Multiple Terminals Close at San Pedro Bay Ports After Truck Catches Fire

Multiple terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remain closed Friday a day after a “big-rig” tractor trailer carrying lithium-ion batteries overturned on the freeway connecting both San Pedro Bay Ports.

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Four of the L.A. port’s terminals—APM Terminals, Fenix Marine, Everport and Yusen Terminals—canceled their second shift Thursday and remained closed Friday as local fire, hazmat and police agencies continue to work on scene. TraPac and the West Basin Container Terminal will stay open, as will the World Cruise Center, the port said.

As for the neighboring L.B. port, container terminals at Pier T and Pier A will remain closed for the day shift (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) Friday due to proximity to the fire. They will reassess resumption of operations later.

All four other container terminals—Long Beach Container Terminal, ITS, Pacific Container Terminal and SSA at Pier C—remain open.

The Port of Long Beach said it is not expected that the incident will greatly impact the flow of cargo at the gateway.

But containers that are already stuck there could be a nuisance for companies that had an appointment to pick them up via truck after 1 p.m. on Thursday, or throughout Friday, according to Ian Weiland, chief operating officer at trucking and logistics company Junction Collaborative Transports.

“This will be roughly 1.5-to-2 days of [appointments] needing to be rescheduled across ALL truckers ALL at the same time,” Weiland said in a post on LinkedIn. “Expect MAJOR delays on these particular containers.”

And for those companies bringing an empty container back to a closed terminal, “it will sit in a trucker storage yard on a chassis and will continue to rack up added charges due to the closure,” he warned. Since it won’t be possible to return all empties at same time because of the container congestion, “dispute any/all charges with SSL as these are market problems,” he added.

The incident occurred just off Interstate 710, near Ocean Boulevard and Navy Way on Terminal Island, the land area where both ports reside. It was unclear what caused the truck to roll on its side.

The Los Angeles Fire Department first reported on the incident at 11:58 a.m. local time Thursday. There were no reported injuries or evacuations, and there were no off-site hazards.

Traffic is being re-routed away from the area and all motorists are advised to use alternate routes.

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According to the LAFD, which is overseeing the incident, firefighters monitored the battery fire through the night and will continue to all day Friday. The department said at 10 p.m. that the fire was expected to last at least another 24 to 48 hours.

“The batteries have been damaged, and are on fire and off-gassing, with reports of one battery exploding,” the LAFD said. The fire crews were taking precautions to block hazardous materials from potentially spreading from the batteries, one of which exploded, said the department.

A seven-mile stretch on California State Route 47, extending from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to Long Beach, will remain closed through that period.

The terminal closures come at a pivotal moment for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which process the most and second-most 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the U.S., just days ahead of a now-probable East and Gulf Coast port strike on Oct. 1.

In August, the ports saw an increase in container imports of 18 percent and 40 percent, respectively, as many shippers brought product in earlier than usual or shifted cargo away from the East Coast.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, and Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero have both indicated that their hubs are prepared for any potential uptick in imports that is expected to come from the diverted cargo .

On Sept. 18, Seroka said the L.A. port ran at about 80 percent capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.

And the L.B. port is “handling just as much cargo as we did in 2021 and 2022 but without any of the pandemic-era backlogs , delays or congestion that arose due to issues outside the Port,” said Cordero in a statement on the East Coast port contract negotiations Friday.

“We continue to be in close contact with our ocean carriers, terminal operators, railroads, equipment providers, and labor and industry partners to monitor the situation and to do our part to keep the national supply chain operational,” Cordero said, who noted the port was prepared to its business recovery task force for the duration of any increased congestion or impediments to the movement of cargo due to any work stoppage.

As of Thursday, 11 container vessels were waiting at berth at the Port of Los Angeles. Nine ships are berthed at the Port of Long Beach on Friday. There were 26 total ships in the area between their point of origin and 40 nautical miles from the L.A. hub, while there were 29 vessels between those points that were headed for L.B. Approximately 436,973 TEUs are aboard the 55 ships headed for the San Pedro Bay.

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