A cargo ship that lost 83 containers in waters off NSW, spreading debris along beaches, has delayed its arrival into a Sydney port by 24 hours.
The YM Efficiency, making its way from Taiwan to Sydney, was last week hit by heavy swells about 30km off the coast of Port Stephens that toppled the containers into sea and damaged another 30.
In the past four days, plastics, building materials and other items have washed up on land along the coast.
This has raised concerns about the impact on marine life, including humpback whales now making their way to breeding waters in the northern hemisphere.
The Liberia-registered ship was due to finally dock in Port Botany on Tuesday but weather and other issues have caused delays pushing its docking time out to 8am on Wednesday, a Sydney Ports spokeswoman told AAP.
Meanwhile, the clean up of hundreds of kilos of flotsam - including nappies, sanitary products, car parts and plastic - continues on at least six beaches around Port Stephens.
Hawks Nest resident Julie Sims is heading out with several other residents on Tuesday to pick up the debris, despite the MidCoast Council urging people not to do so.
"It is still better that any plastic is removed from the beach rather than it going back into the water where it can harm marine life or into sand dunes where it can hurt goannas, echidnas, dingos, crabs and any other land-based inhabitants of our beaches," Ms Sims told AAP on Tuesday.
The MidCoast Council on Monday urged locals not to get involved because the "waste may require very specific disposal methods and also requires Customs and Border Force inspection".
The council is also asking people to dispose of any debris in skips at Hawks Nest, not their household bins or council waste bins.
A beach rake will be used to comb Hawks Nest and Jimmys Beach later this week.
The 43,000-tonne YM Efficiency is currently anchored at sea off Gosford on the NSW Central Coast, as it waits to get underway for Port Botany.
