( CNN ) -- On a stormy January night in 1992 , out in the Pacific Ocean , 29,000 plastic yellow ducks , blue turtles and green frogs fell from a cargo ship and were lost at sea . For the past 21 years , these durable plastic bath toys have been floating around the world , passing the site where the Titanic sank , landing in Japan , Alaska and Hawaii and even spending years frozen in an Arctic ice pack . Originally sealed in a 40-foot steel shipping container , rough seas and huge waves knocked the bath toys overboard , along with several other containers that sank straight to the ocean floor . See also : Is this the age of the super-ports ? Some estimates suggest that up to 10,000 containers fall into the ocean every year . The World Shipping Council , whose members represent 90 % of the world 's container ship capacity , say that figure is grossly exaggerated and estimate that on average no more than 350 containers are lost annually . Due to severe weather and high seas , accidents or incorrect stowage , there are now shipping containers littering the seabed all around the world . Many float on the surface for months , some rupture and release their goods , but most eventually sink to the bottom -- creating deep-sea stepping stones between ports across the globe . Oceanographer and self-confessed beachcomber Curt Ebbesmeyer says , `` Usually container ships lose containers when the ship starts rolling side-to-side at more than a 55-degree-angle . You have to imagine a couple of dozen containers falling overboard together . When they start banging together , it 's a very , very violent episode . '' Approximately 90 % of worldwide cargo travels by sea -- an overwhelming percentage . While often overlooked , shipping containers have transformed global trade , easily moving between truck , train and ship . See also : Introducing the world 's biggest ship . Drewry Shipping Consultants , who track container inventories at a microscopic level of detail , say 183 million TEUs ( 20-foot equivalent units ) are moved globally by sea every year and at any one time , approximately 6.7 million containers are in transit . According to Peter Glover , Master Mariner and Senior Associate at international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright , `` There is no international convention which places an obligation on shipping companies to report losses of containers at sea . '' However , a report will likely be required if the loss of the container is considered to be a marine accident , presents a danger to navigation , or if discharge of the contents of the container is such that it breaches the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships . In June of this year , a five-year-old container ship , the MOL Comfort broke its back in heavy weather and split apart off the coast of Yemen . There were no casualties but all 7,000 containers , reportedly carrying consumer electronics and clothes , were lost after the ship caught fire and subsequently sank -- a catastrophic event that cost insurers between $ 300-400 million in claims . Over the years , a great wealth of unusual items has washed up on beaches around the world . In 2006 , beachcombers scavenging the Outer Banks of North Carolina were greeted by thousands of sealed bags of Doritos tortilla chips that floated onto the beach , dry and still in an edible condition . During a storm in 1990 , a large wave washed 21 shipping containers into the North Pacific Ocean . 60,000 Nike shoes -- en route from Korea to the US -- splashed into the waves . Over the next year , hundreds of shoes -- from hiking boots to children 's shoes -- were discovered on the beaches of the Queen Charlotte Islands , western Vancouver Island , Washington and Oregon . See also : Navigating the world 's busiest shipping lane . But it is the plastic animals that have proved most valuable for scientific research of great ocean currents -- the so-called engine of the planet 's climate . For the last 21 years , Ebbesmeyer has been tracking the ducks , frogs and turtles from Sitka , where they first landed , all the way to Scotland and Maine . Having patiently recorded the date and location of each sighting , he has been able to learn an enormous amount about the ocean 's conveyor belt . While Ebbesmeyer says only 3 % of findings are reported , the last sighting he is aware of was a frog in August of this year . Today , he believes there are only a few hundred left ... still at the mercy of the winds and surface currents . Once the tale of the tub toys is over , Ebbesmeyer says he still has plenty of other container spills to help him track the currents -- 34,000 hockey gloves and 5 million Lego pieces were dropped in the ocean 16 years ago , for example . `` It 's a strange thing to be living on a planet and not know what 's in 70 % of it , '' Ebbesmeyer says . `` You literally never know what 's going to wash up onto shore . '' Eoghan Macguire contributed to this article .
A container of plastic ducks , frogs and beavers broke free from a cargo ship and fell into the North Pacific in 1998 . The durable plastic containers have been floating around ever since providing insights into the nature of ocean currents . Some estimates suggest as many as 100 containers fall into the ocean every year .