About 70 shipping containers fell from a cargo ship into the water at the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday morning, September 9, disrupting operations at Pier G and prompting an urgent response from authorities to secure the site.

The incident happened just before 9 a.m., when the ship named Mississippi, which had arrived from China within the past 24 hours, was berthed at the terminal. Port officials later confirmed that 67 containers were lost in the mishap.

Some dropped directly into the harbor while others landed on a smaller clean-air barge tied to the ship. The barge sustained damage, but there were no injuries reported.

Responders from the U.S. Coast Guard, Port of Long Beach, Long Beach Police Department, Long Beach Fire Department, and the Army Corps of Engineers were all called to the scene.

The Coast Guard immediately set up a 500-yard safety zone around the ship and began broadcasting hourly alerts to nearby vessels, warning them of navigation hazards.

The Long Beach Fire Department used boats to corral the containers that stayed afloat, while crews sprayed high-pressure water to keep them from drifting out to sea. By late Tuesday night, booms had been placed around the floating boxes, though cranes will be required to lift those that sank to the bottom of the harbor.

Video Credits: ABC 7 Chicago/Facebook

Video and aerial footage from the scene showed dozens of containers scattered in the water, along with debris such as shoes, clothes, boxes, electronics, and furniture drifting near the vessel. Some containers were seen toppled over the rear deck of the Mississippi.

Port spokesperson Art Marroquin said cargo operations at Pier G were suspended as crews worked to secure the containers. Other port terminals were not affected by the accident. He added that the exact cause is under investigation.

Ship-tracking data shows the Mississippi sails under a Portuguese flag and was last docked in China two weeks earlier.

The incident occurred only four days after the Port of Long Beach was recognised as the Best West Coast Seaport in North America for the seventh year in a row by the trade publication Asia Cargo News.

The port is one of the busiest gateways for Pacific trade, moving about one-fourth of all containerised cargo on the West Coast. In 2024, it handled more than 9.6 million container units, its busiest year on record.

References: foxla, latimes

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