The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported that on Friday evening, a severe winter stormtered areas around the English Channel, with containers going overboard near the Isle of Wight, prompting warnings to shipping and a major effort to track the fallen containers.

were reports of wind speeds of up to 73 miles per hour on the Isle of Wight's western side at the Needles. Wind speeds of about 65 miles hour were recorded in Portland, while in parts of Devon and Cornwall, gusts of up to 99 miles per hour were seen.

Flooding was reported in locations, with the storm intensifying throughout the evening, reaching its peak around 11 p.m. local time.

The MCA received reports of containers going over. Shortly before 11.10 p.m., the agency was made aware that an unnamed vessel had lost 17 containers in the vicinity of Nab Tower the Isle of Wight. While dealing with the first report, a second vessel reported losing seven containers about 16 nautical miles south of St. Catherine's Point

The MCA said that on Friday it had launched a fixed-wing aircraft to search for a total of 24 containers believed to have gone overboard and issued a warning to shipping.

The MCA is working with the shipping company to determine the contents of the containers. There were reports that the first batch of containers was thought to beer containers. The second batch of containers was thought to potentially be empty, and the MCA said that there was a high probability that they had already sunk in the choppy waters.

According to a spokesperson for the MCA, a HM Coastguard aircraft found six containers off the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight.

The Coastguard that it is the responsibility of the shipping company to locate and recover the fallen containers. Inventories are being checked to determine the contents of the missing containers to ensure that they not pose a hazard to the marine environment.

Just a month ago, another reefer ship lost 16 containers in the same general area. Some of the containers washed on shore, and bananas were found on beaches and inland. A total of 13 of the 16 containers were recovered, with the rest believed to have sunk into waterway.

The MCA has launched an investigation, noting that one concern is that the containers were not properly secured and that sometimes crew members start to dismantle lashing before arrival in port to expedite the unloading process.

As the search for the fallen containers continues, the severe weather has also affected other shipping operations. All Hover flights to the Isle of Wight were canceled. DFDS warned that high winds and rough seas would lead to disruptions and delays on its Dover-to-France crossChannel route service.