Container with 3 tons of sulfuric acid is floating somewhere off Outer Banks

Somewhere off the Outer Banks, a shipping container filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of sulfuric acid is floating...or sinking.

U.S. Coast Guard officials warned mariners on Sunday that up to 73 cargo containers fell off a cargo ship Saturday night, about 17 miles off Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.

The cargo ship Maersk Shanghai contacted watchstanders at Sector North Carolina’s command center and notified them they lost the containers cargo containers due to high winds and heavy seas.

It wasn’t immediately made clear what was in the containers, but authorities are now warning one of them held 5,913 pounds of the acid in sealed drums, reports the Virginian- Pilot.

Sulfuric acid is a colorless, oily liquid that burns the skin on contact and corrodes most metals. But the environmental danger is minimal because the solution dissolves in saltwater, said Coast Guard spokesman Ronald Hodges told the Virginian-Pilot. The substance is often used to produce fertilizer.

The container is marked with diamond placards identifying the contents as a corrosive, but those may not be visible if the container were to wash ashore on the wrong side, reported the Outer Banks Voice.

At least four of the containers were spotted by air crews between 10 and 14 miles offshore located between Oregon Inlet and Diamond Shoals, said the Outer Banks Voice. They were floating in a line and standing on their end about one to four feet out of the water, it was reported.

The ship lost the cargo about 17 miles off the Oregon Inlet.

Company spokeswoman Katherine Mosquera says the Liberia-flagged ship anchored in Charleston, South Carolina, where officials were assessing the situation, reported the Associated Press.

This story was originally published March 6, 2018 at 6:05 AM with the headline "Container with 3 tons of sulfuric acid is floating somewhere off Outer Banks."