Eli5 why can’t they dredge up all the containers lost in the ocean last year when that ship capsized ?

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Eli5 why can’t they dredge up all the containers lost in the ocean last year when that ship capsized ?

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They could, but it’s expensive to do anything underwater, and some soggy cargo just isn’t worth it without a really compelling reason. In Australia, for example, they’re salvaging containers that fell off a ship but that’s for environmental reasons not because the salvage value is worth it; it’s actually a horrifically expensive operation and they’re fighting in court over who’s responsible for the cleanup bill.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They “could”, but why? It would cost a lot of money, take a lot of time, and what would the end result be? A lot of water damaged goods that are unsellable? No one wants to spend the money for those results.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Recovering things from kilometers underwater = expensive.
Goods soaked in salt water and thrown around violently in the ocean = probably broken and not worth a lot.

So the simple answer is “it’s not worth it”.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The ocean is very deep, and the way things can eddy around could spread them over a vast area. The containers are not likely to withstand the pressure of the deep, so everything inside is soaked uber pressure.

Not likely much to try to save, unfortunately.