The US Coast Guard is working to safely move off more than 100 shipping containers from a cargo ship at the Port of Long Beach in what was described as a precarious situation.
Aerial views Thursday showed multiple containers stacked and on the verge of dangerously teetering into the water. A video showed many of the large containers in uneven and awkward positions.
The OOCL Sunflower departed from Taiwan on Feb. 23 but encountered heavy weather in the Northern Pacific. The vessel and its 27 crew members were OK but 32 containers fell overboard, officials said. Around 60 containers were damaged and 42 were offset.
It arrived in Long Beach on March 12, but the vessel was kept offshore for several days as officials were concerned about the stability of the remaining cargo. The ship had a capacity of 16,828 20-foot cargo containers.
The containers contained raw materials used to manufacture semiconductors and rubber, propellants, and refrigerants, ABC 7 reported.
Contractors have inspected each container and are conducting air monitoring and heat detection. There haven’t been any reports of pollution at the port so far. A 100-yard safety zone was established around the vessel, according to the Patch.
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