Seven shipping containers, including one holding 9,500 liters of Arctic diesel, were lost from Germany's Neumayer Station III after a massive iceberg broke off during a severe storm in January.
The containers had been placed on the ice shelf near the coast, where they were awaiting pickup. A blizzard with winds reaching 130 km/h triggered the calving of an iceberg, which then carried the containers into the Weddell Sea.
The German research vessel RV Polarstern located the iceberg, and helicopter teams managed to recover approximately one tonne of equipment, including three drums of diesel. However, further recovery operations were halted due to the risk of the iceberg breaking apart.
The iceberg was last sighted on February 22 and is now presumed to have disintegrated, with the containers sinking to the seabed. The fuel container is believed to have leaked diesel, though its environmental impact depends on local conditions.
In response, Germany has changed its storage policy, now requiring that containers be placed at least 5 km from the edge of the ice shelf to reduce the risk of future losses.