Almost a year to the day since the Ice Prince sank in the English Channel and flooded the beaches of the South Coast with timber, a Russian-registered cargo ship has lost 1,500 metric tonnes of timber in rough seas off the Sussex coast.

The timber was lost 14 miles off Newhaven at 0815 this morning. The 137m Sinegorsk was en route from Oskarshamn in Russia to Alexandria in Egypt but is now being escorted towards Portsmouth by coastguards. She is not thought to be at “imminent risk”.

A Coastguard spokesperson said the timber should start washing ashore in the Newhaven area on Tuesday, depending on winds and currents. Dover Coastguard has alerted other vessels in the area about the risk of sea-borne debris.

A year ago, more than 2,000 tonnes of sawn timber was washed up along the coast of Sussex after the Greek-registered Ice Prince sank about 26 miles south Portland. A memorial to that incident is being unveiled in Worthing later on Monday.