Two Chevy pickup trucks lost at sea in a shipping container but rescue operation unites owners with purchases two years on
- Two Chevrolet pick up trucks suffered an unfortunate fate
- Whilst on their way to new owners in Australia, they were lost at sea
- Two years later, they were finally found and recovered
Published on Mar 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM (UTC+4)
by Keelin McNamara
Last updated on Mar 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Imagine if your brand new, U.S-imported Chevrolet pick-up truck was lost at sea.
Sadly, that is exactly what happened to some unfortunate owners.
After two years, their precious vehicles were finally recovered.
But it’s fair to say that the packaging was more than a little damaged.
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Chevrolet shipping containers lost at sea
Our story starts all the way back in June 2018.
On June 1st of that year, a container ship called the YM Efficiency was on it’s way to Sydney.
In the early hours, it encountered gale force winds and bad weather.
It was just off the coast of Newcastle-Port Stephens in New South Wales.
The rough seas and winds caused the ship to lose quite a lot of its cargo.
According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, 81 containers were lost.
They fell straight to the bottom of the ocean floor in the Australian Commonwealth Waters.
Another 62 were damaged in the process, as well as the ship’s superstructure and lashing bridges.
Chevy cargo finally recovered
Among those 81 containers was a highly valuable cargo.
Most of the containers fell straight down all the way to the sea floor.
In April 2020, progress was finally able to be made on recovering the lost containers.
63 of the water-bound containers were able to be recovered using highly-specialised robots.
Among the 63 containers was a shipment containing the Chevrolet trucks.
The shipment was estimated to have been worth around $300,000.
Unfortunately, as you can imagine, the trucks are now headed for the scrapyard.
They have been battered and bruised from their journey to the bottom of the sea.
They have also been waterlogged, so the Chevrolet trucks would never be road-worthy anyway.
Despite their unfortunate fate, we are glad that the Chevrolet trucks were finally found.
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Keelin McNamara is a content writer at Supercar Blondie from Ireland, covering cars, technology, and lifestyle. Despite being a Law graduate, he discovered his passion for journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has worked in the industry ever since. Outside of work, he is an avid MotoGP fan, and is a self-confessed addict of the sport.
