Ocean rubbish hinders search for crashed plane

Global – Although it has been announced that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crashed in the Indian Ocean, rubbish floating around in the sea is continuing to hinder efforts to find debris, according to US media reports.

Giant swirls of discarded plastics, including plastic bags, are presenting a major problem to those involved in the search for the missing plane. The sheer volume of this waste has reinforced the warnings issued by recycling organisations and other environmentalists about the impact of floating debris on the ecosystem.

Estimates suggest anywhere between 700 and 10 000 shipping containers go overboard every year. Furthermore, it has been calculated that some 10 million tonnes of debris were washed into the sea as a result of the 2011 tsunami in Japan.