Port of Long Beach begins cleanup after some 75 containers spilled from ship

As salvage work began to recover dozens of shipping containers that fell from a cargo vessel this week at the Port of Long Beach, POLB and other officials gathered on Wednesday, Sept. 10, to provide updates on the incident, which remains under investigation.

No cause has been determined.

“Thankfully in this incident, everyone is safe,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. “This situation could have been a whole lot worse.”

What caused an estimated 75 containers to fall from the vessel Mississippi remains unknown and under investigation, officials said.

The vessel was at berth in Pier G on Tuesday morning when the containers stacked on board the ship began to fall. The ship carries more than 2,000 containers.

“All recovery operations are continuing to proceed with caution,” Richardson said. “There’s been a lot of progress over last 24 hours.”

The Coast Guard was informed of the incident by the port pilot, and dispatched vessels and air resources to the location.

The port was open Wednesday, though a portion of Pier G remained closed.

Operations to recover the wayward metal containers began Wednesday morning, according to a port official, who said no hazardous materials had been identified.

Several containers spilled into the water and others were found leaning against a gantry crane, said Long Beach Fire Department Chief Dennis Buchanan.

A Long Beach Fire Department boat used jets of water to corral the containers.

Some merchandise could be seen floating, but most of the containers that went into the water did not break open. Several landed on a barge that was positioned alongside the Mississippi.

“An investigation led by the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board is underway to determine the cause of theincident,” according to a statement from the port.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13 President Gary Herrera, who also spoke at the afternoon news conference. Workers were not on the ship at the time the incident occurred.

“Like any other workplace, things happen,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “This was unprecedented, I’ve never seen anything that approximates what happened yesterday.”

All factors will be explored during the investigation, officials said.

City News Service contributed to this report.