More than 65 cargo containers tumbled from a ship at the Port of Long Beach this morning, leaving salvage crews scrambling and shippers facing delays.
The apparent accident happened just before 9 a.m. at the Pier G container terminal, which is across Queensway Bay from downtown Long Beach.
“Cargo operations have been temporarily suspended at the terminal as responders work to secure the containers,” according to a statement from Port of Long Beach spokesman Art Marroquin.
Images from the scene show many bent and dented containers in the water or leaning precariously.
An estimated 67 shipping containers fell off the vessel Mississippi, port officials said in a statement. The vessel had arrived from China, according to online vessel trackers.
Marroquin said no injuries had been reported and authorities were trying to determine what caused the containers to fall.
A smaller clean air barge, which was connected to the Mississippi at the time, was damaged by several falling containers, port officials said.
The United States Coast Guard has established a safety zone of 500 yards around the Mississippi, said USCG spokesperson Richard Uranga.
Port of Long Beach officials didn’t immediately respond to questions about what was in the containers or how many ships were being affected by the delays.
Editor’s note: This article was updated with additional info from the Port of Long Beach.