At least 345 containers were lost from a Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) boxship in January, much more than the initial estimate of 291.
Containers were shed from the deck of the 19,teu-dwt MSC Zoe (built 2015) in early January when the vessel encountered rough seas on its way to Bremerhaven, Germany.
The new estimate comes after the ship finished unloading in Bremerhaven and Gdansk, Poland, the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) said on Wednesday.
The final count is expected next week.
Following the incident, the vessel unloaded the first half of its cargo and damaged containers in Bremerhaven on 7 January.
The ship arrived at Gdansk two weeks later, but was forced to wait at an anchorage outside the port until around 1 February, according to AIS data.
The second half of the cargo includes boxes that were loaded in Sines, Portugal, the ship’s last port of call before the incident.
Operations are continuing to recover the lost containers, many of which are on the seabed.
The search area covers 2,700 square kilometres.
At least 21 containers from the ship washed up on the island of Borkum in the Wadden Sea, according to press in the Netherlands.
Beaches have reportedly been littered with toys, chairs and even flat-screen TVs from the lost boxes.
