THE operation to recover all the pine planks, many of which are up to six metres long, could take weeks.
As soon as the timber started washing ashore on Saturday, January 19, diggers appointed by the owners of the stricken Ice Prince arrived on site.
They are now working round-the-clock to collect all the wood, although because of the enormous volumes of material the task of cleaning-up could run into weeks.
A similar shipping disaster, which saw the cargo from the sunken vessel Kodima wash up at Whitsand Bay in February 2001, took months to clear completely.
Experts are likening what has happened at Worthing to events there, but Alison Kentuck, receiver of wreck, said: "Worthing has an advantage as the access to the beach by road is very good here.
"So we could see the beaches cleaned a lot quicker."
Links to more stories, pictures and video below:Video: Film of planks washing up on Worthing beach, as well as footage of the piles of planks around Worthing PierVideo: Wood on the beach from the airReaders' photographs of wood on Shoreham BeachReaders' photographs of wood on Worthing and Shoreham beachReaders' photographs of wood on Worthing beachOnce in a lifetimeWorthing beach wood workers praised2,000 tons of timber hits West SussexTimber washes ashore at Worthing and ShorehamDon't miss the Herald's eight-page picture special on Thursday, January 24.
