Most people would be surprised to learn just how many overseas shipping containers fall overboard from ocean carriers. Consumers shop for goods every day in local shops and marketplaces, taking for granted that the shelves pretty much stock themselves; that inventory will be replenished as products continue to be carried out of the store in shiny packages and branded shop bags.
But how often do we give a second thought to merchandise that did NOT make it to the shelves? If we stop to think about it, I’m sure we all can guess there are merchandise losses somewhere along the supply chain… packages lost in transit at some point. But where does the ‘lost’ merchandise go?
While this is certainly a concern for merchants who lose valuable time and products, and other overseas shipping container carriers whose safe navigation relies on a clear path between routes, the greatest cost of such occurrences is by far the impact on our delicate marine ecosystem. We already know that man-made objects are typically not meant to be in the ocean – the concept of littering our world’s seas with plastics and man-made metals is nothing new, and we already know that it’s much more than just a bad idea. But some overseas shipping cargo items are particularly toxic to marine life, and many of those containers littering our ocean’s floors contain household and industrial chemicals – powerful poisons that our oceans should never be exposed to.
In 2011, a research team from MBARI and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) used a robotic submarine to study the biological impacts of a shipping container resting on the seafloor about 12 miles off Monterey Bay. The container was located at a depth of approximately 4,200 feet, and it was determined that the item had been dropped from a merchant overseas shipping carrier in 2004, (due to improper stacking procedures), that was headed to the Port of Los Angeles during a winter storm. The container was discovered during a marine biology dive some 3 months after this occurence.
What ultimately became of this overseas shipping container? In this instance, the container became something of an artificial reef, attracting sea life that normally would not be indigenous to the Monterey Bay area. While this might at first sound like a benign effect, in the long-term this may mean an imbalance of our fragile ocean ecosystem.
The container itself contained 1,159 steel-belted tires. And another 14 containers which fell off the same ocean shipping carrier were never located, and those containers held merchandise such as:
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it is simply not a good thing for these things to be cluttering up our oceans – and it will take many more years of marine research to determine just how detrimental these ocean shipping containers and their contents are to our marine life and the world’s ecosystem. However, the ship that dropped the aforementioned ocean shipping containers was held responsible in this instance, and the $3+ million settlement they paid will help to fund future research to help us get these answers, and prevent possible catastrophic consequences.
If you’d like to know more about our overseas shipping services, or get a free, no-hassle online rate quote, simply click the button below and we’ll be glad to provide you with your requested information.