Seatrade Maritime: 67 containers fall off Zim ship in Port of Long Beach
A Zim chartered box ship lost 67 containers overboard while at berth with some hitting a clean air barge connected to the vessel.
The Portuguese-flagged container ship Mississippi suffered multiple container stack collapses while berthed in the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday morning.
According to the Port of Long Beach an estimated 67 containers fell from the Mississippi into the water at around 9am on Tuesday when it was berthed at Pier G in the port.
A number of containers fell onto and damaged a clean air barge that was connected to the container ship at the time of the incident; however, no injuries were reported.
Videos posted on social media show a stack of containers in front of the vessel’s bridge falling into the water and hitting the barge. The final row of containers at the stern of the Mississippi had already collapsed at this point.
Another video posted on X shows number of containers hanging precariously from the other side of the vessel above the quayside.
he 2024-built Mississippi is owned and managed by MPC Container Ships and chartered by Zim.
Based on AIS tracking data from Pole Star Global the Mississippi had arrived a few hours prior to the incident at 11:49 hrs UTC (03:47 hrs) local time on 9 September having sailed across the Pacific from Yantian in China. With the vessel arriving from China this would mean the boxes onboard would be fully laden with cargo.
Related:General average declared on the Marie Maersk
Zim confirmed the incident in a statement and said that no casualties were reported. “Zim is actively cooperating with local port authorities and relevant agencies to contain the situation and assess any potential environmental impact,” the company said.
The Port of Long Beach said a unified command had been established and representatives from the US Coast Guard, Long Beach Fire Department, Long Beach Police Department, Port of Long Beach, Army Corps of Engineers and other commercial representatives were responding to the incident.
The USCG has declared a 500-metre safety zone around the Mississippi and the port has suspended cargo operations at Pier G.
It is not clear what caused the incident which appeared to happen in good weather conditions.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hOL9sJcTVLY%3Fsi%3DjuzPXDti-JkPrSLh%26enablejsapi%3D1%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.seatrade-maritime.com
Related Posts
