Los Angeles: More than 60 shipping containers fell overboard from a cargo vessel Tuesday morning at the Port of Long Beach, prompting a temporary halt in operations at one of the nation’s busiest seaports.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. when the containers toppled off the vessel Mississippi, according to Port of Long Beach spokesperson Art Marroquin. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed via X (formerly Twitter) that about 67 containers ended up in the water, many of them seen floating near the ship.

The Mississippi, which sails under the flag of Portugal, had arrived in Long Beach after departing from Yantian port in Shenzhen, China, on August 26, according to vessel tracking data.

Some containers reportedly fell onto the STAX 2, an emissions-capturing vessel attached to the Mississippi. When empty, individual containers can weigh between 2 to 4 metric tons (2.2 to 4.4 US tons), depending on size — raising concerns about potential damage to equipment and pollution.

Operations at Pier G terminal, one of six terminals at the Port of Long Beach, were temporarily suspended as crews worked to secure the area and recover the containers.

Located roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, along with the Port of Los Angeles, handles about 40% of all shipping container traffic entering the United States — making any disruption at the site a matter of national logistics significance.