An investigation is underway at the Port of Oakland after nearly a dozen empty shipping containers ended up in the water after falling off the berthed MOL Maxim containership.
CBS reported that divers and salvage crews had been involved in rescuing the containers from the 50-foot-deep body of water.
Mike Zampa, Port of Oakland Communications Director, said that there had been no pollution or port traffic problems and that the cause of the incident was still unknown after 11 empty containers fell off the ship last Thursday (September 21, 2017).
As of today (September 25, 2017), the port has managed to save eight of the 11 containers that sunk into the water, with three submerged containers lashed to the wharf and out of the way of vessel operations.
The remaining containers are scheduled to be retrieved from the water today.
Divers have been using buoys to mark the containers so a crane can lift them out.
Learn more about how the global distribution of goods involving maritime transport makes use of standardized loading units in the 'Empty Container Repositioning' technical paper
The Port of Oakland processes 2.5 million containers every year.
This is the second time that Zampa has seen containers go overboard since joining the port 11 years ago.
In an interview with CBS, Zampa said: “Fortunately these were empty containers, so the weight is not as great as they could have been.”
Read more: California’s Oakland Port has commissioned a new, 200-foot cable-on-reel system for use by vessels berthing at Oakland International Container Terminal
Video credit: CBS SF Bay Area
