THIS is the first picture of the inside of the stricken vehicle carrier Hoegh Osaka taken before it set sail.

It shows part of the main deck which housed some of the heavier machinery trapped inside.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, a dock worker said that as well as heavy machinery such as excavators and stone cutters there was also lighter vehicles such as vans and cars.

The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said they had taken it at about midday to show their family the type of cargo they have been loading.

It is believed there is 4,600 tonnes of cargo across several decks on board the 180-metre carrier.

The worker said: “That's the cargo on board. That [photo was taken] about the middle of the length of the ship. We started loading the JCBs and the cranes somewhere in the middle of the length of the main deck.

“On this kind of vessel there would be everything out can imagine. There are lorry trailers, stone crushers, three or four excavators.”

They added: “I remember there were some kinds of vans. It was just a normal day. There were BMW cars, they had already been on board when I started loading.

“It's very possible there were other German cars such as Mercedes and Porsche on board.”

It is not known what other types of cars would be on board the Hoegh Osaka.

Each of the heavier vehicles would have been chained to the vessel while the lighter vehicles would have been strapped in after they were driven on board by the workers.

The worker said: “I'm very interested to see how the main deck looks like now. We know how heavy those vehicles are. We put many chains on them. We're interested to see what it looks like inside now.

“I don't think the chains would be to hold that cargo with the ship at that angle. It's very heavy and there's lots of weight for each of those vehicles.”

Between 40 and 60 workers loaded and unloaded the craft between 6am and 5pm yesterday before it set sail.