Cargo containers, some damaged, being offloaded from ship at Port of Long Beach after rough voyage – Press Telegram

A U.S. Coast Guard unified command is overseeing the offloading of cargo this week from a container vessel — OOCL Sunflower — that arrived at the Port of Long Beach after encountering heavy weather near the Aleutian Islands.

Thirty-two containers fell overboard, 42 were offset and 57 were damaged, according the Coast Guard said on Thursday, March 19. The incident occurred on March 3, according to a report published in The Maritime Telegraph.

The Coast Guard summary stated that there were “no reports of any injuries” to the 27 crew members on board — and “no damage to the structure of the vessel.”

After an assessment while the ship was still on its way, it continued on to its destination, which was the Port of Long Beach.

Managing and assisting with the in-port assessment with the U.S. Coast Guard this week are the Port of Long Beach, the vessel owner/operator incident commander, the Long Beach Container Terminal and the Long Beach Fire Department.

Throughout the past weekend, contractors conducted thorough visual inspections of the exterior of each affected container and internal inspections using remote cameras, the Coast Guard report said.

“Air monitoring and heat detection were also conducted internally and externally to evaluate potential hazards,” the report said. “There have been no releases, loss of containment, reports of pollution or monitoring readings outside of normal parameters to date. Air monitoring and heat detection are ongoing under the direction of a marine chemist. Navy  architects were consulted and did not have any concerns with the vessel’s stability.”

After the situation on board was determined to be stable, the report said, the offset and damaged containers were then secured by contractors for transit to the pier. Under federal On-scene Coordinator Authority — and out of an abundance of caution, the report added — the Coast Guard then established the unified command to promote collaboration and mitigate risks that could lead to an incident. The unified command oversaw the safe docking of the vessel at the Port of Long Beach and are now coordinating to offload the containers.

The unified command is focused on maintaining each container’s stability during the offload, as well as ensuring a safe worksite during the operation, the report said.