Cargo spill incident at Port of Long Beach shows 'how dangerous this job is' for workers, CEO says
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A salvage and cleanup operation continued at the Port of Long Beach, where multiple shipping containers remained in the water after dozens fell off a cargo ship.
As many as 30 containers were still in the water Friday morning, three days after more than 60 of them toppled off the ship.
The shipping containers fell off a vessel named the Mississippi shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday, and no injuries have been reported, according to Port of Long Beach spokesperson Art Marroquin.
About 67 containers were in the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said on the social platform X.
"At times when we have labor issues, people don't appreciate -- the public doesn't appreciate -- how dangerous this job is," Mario Cordero, CEO of the Port of Long Beach, said at a news conference. "Just imagine, the men and women who were there, who potentially could've (been) caught up with this.
"And for those who question whether or not this job is dangerous, you saw it first hand," Cordero said.
Long Beach is one of the busiest seaports in the country, with 40% of all shipping containers in the United States coming through it or the Los Angeles port.
Some of the containers appeared to have fallen on the STAX 2, an anti-pollution vessel attached to the side of the Mississippi that captures emissions. When empty, a container can weigh between two to four metric tons depending on the size.
The Pier G container terminal, one of six at the port, temporarily stopped unloading and loading ships as authorities worked to secure the containers.
The Mississippi sails under the flag of Portugal and arrived in Long Beach after departing Aug. 26 from the Yantian port in Shenzhen, China, according to vessel tracking websites.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
