Cargo Lost Due to Incorrect Cargo Weight Data

The input of incorrect container cargo weight data when developing the cargo loading plan led to shipping containers falling off the President Eisenhower container ship and others becoming damaged, the National Transportation Safety Board has found.

On Feb. 6, 2024, the U.S.-flagged President Eisenhower lost 23 shipping containers overboard and another 10 were damaged as the vessel was drifting about 94 miles south of Oakland, California, while awaiting a berthing assignment. None of the lost containers contained hazardous materials. The value of the lost cargo and damage to the containership was estimated at over $735,000.

Longshoreman at the Port of Los Angeles began loading the vessel on Jan. 31 in accordance with a cargo loading plan. The cargo loading plan was developed by the ship planners using the verified gross mass, or VGM, of each container, which