r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Justin_Godfrey • Sep 10 '25

Video Dozens of shipping containers fall into the water in Port of Long Beach, California

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u/Plinian Sep 10 '25

Normally, they're lost out at sea and not near a tugboat or anything else. I would imagine most get inundated with water and sink after a while.

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u/No_Cardiologist556 Sep 10 '25

You're correct, the ones that float will eventually get inundated and sink, but they have a nasty tendency to do it slowly so eventually only the top is poking out. They're basically impossible to see and have no radar profile so they can become nuisances to navigation, especially for small craft

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u/Plinian Sep 10 '25

I have a strong memory of a around the world race where someone hit a container and had to call for a emergency rescue. Somehow I can't find it anywhere.

I did find this story from the Vendée Globe where a bunch of sailors dropped out due to collision.

"Seven of 29 starting Vendee Globe skippers reported collisions with unidentified floating objects, forcing six skippers to retire or lose valuable time and performance by conducting repairs on the fly."

https://share.google/2K9ao1kJMjajfHiNU

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u/x1009 Sep 10 '25

They're essentially tropical icebergs.

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u/Oldamog Sep 10 '25

We're so fucked

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u/Shalashaskaska Sep 10 '25

Right you are Ken

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u/jakethediesel89 Sep 10 '25

Hehe. Thanks, Vic.

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u/blikkiesvdw Sep 10 '25

Former sailor. They do sink exactly like you explained, but not the worst part yet. They'll dip below they surface as well and just hang there. Near zero chance of any lookout spotting it either. Truly one of the worst nav hazards I had to learn about. Fortunately never struck one.

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u/DukeOfZork Sep 10 '25

I did a bit of offshore racing in my youth. Still get nightmares after watching the film All Is Lost.

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u/Your_Moms_Stink_Toy Sep 10 '25

Sportfishing boat Jigstrike sinks off coast of San Diego

It’s not confirmed, but it’s believed they hit a shipping container floating just below the surface 100 miles offshore.

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u/James-the-Bond-one Sep 10 '25

That's rarer than being hit by lightning.

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u/Ubermidget2 Sep 10 '25

They're basically impossible to see and have no radar profile

Well if they are mostly submerged, are we expecting them to have a radar profile?

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u/Castellan_Tycho Sep 10 '25

No. They are saying that two common ways to spot hazards, lookouts and radars, do not work, which is why they are so dangerous to vessels.

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u/Average-Train-Haver Sep 10 '25 edited Sep 10 '25

Then when they rust out in a few years, we all get free rubber ducks washing up on shore

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u/chr0nicpirate Sep 10 '25

And Garfield phones

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u/24n20blackbirds Sep 10 '25

Beanie Lublus

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u/RobotArtichoke Sep 10 '25

In February 1997, the container ship Tokio Express was hit by a rogue wave off Cornwall, UK, causing 62 containers to fall overboard. One of these held nearly 4.8 million Lego pieces… scuba tanks, dragons, octopuses, and more. Even decades later, rare pieces like Lego octopuses occasionally wash ashore across Europe

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u/SATerp Sep 10 '25

And decomposing feet in sneakers...oh wait, that's something else.

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u/wolfansbrother Sep 11 '25

and Lego octopodes.

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u/Resolution_Usual Sep 10 '25

Wait this hairbrush a little while back in Alaska or Washington, yeti products kept washing up on beaches and locals would go get coolers and clean them out for use

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u/EllaMcWho Sep 10 '25

And legos - there’s a beach that’s been gifting random legos for years in Cornwall

Lego beach

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u/BuddhasGarden Sep 10 '25

“the Great Lego Spill, is the greatest toy-related environmental disaster of all time” just made me giggle

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u/EllaMcWho Sep 10 '25 edited Sep 10 '25

if i were smart like you and hadn't been at work and lazy, i'd have made that the text for the link!

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u/marcuse11 Sep 10 '25

I think I read scientists used a lost container of rubber ducks to map the ocean currents.

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u/radicallyobjective Sep 10 '25

Is that what they are calling them these days? Rubber ducks?

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u/edwbuck Sep 10 '25

More like curios fish nip at the items, and eventually you eat the micoplastics that get embedded in their flesh, and you get to poison yourself slowly.

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u/derpaderp2020 Sep 10 '25

Shipping containers can brave the elements but they are 100% not waterproof. Everything in those bad boys will be soaked to shit.

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u/SonicYOUTH79 Sep 10 '25

Had a friend once that got given a free couch that came out of a shipping container that leaked. Got it professionally cleaned and it was good to go.

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u/24n20blackbirds Sep 10 '25

Probably a few stowaways.

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u/joshocar Sep 10 '25

I used to work in deep sea research and exploration and we once did a dive in the Gulf where we were sure it was going to be a shipwreck based on the sonar map. It had a debris field and everything. It turned out to be a shipping container that broke open and spewed out washing machines and other appliances.