Lost Shipping Containers
Every year, more than 11 million shipping containers arrive at U.S. ports, carried by some of the roughly 6,000 container ships found around the world. Shipping containers are the most common method for transporting goods both domestically and internationally. Although the exact number of shipping containers lost at sea is unknown, it is estimated that up to 10,000 containers may be lost overboard each year. There have been confirmed lost shipping containers within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, some of which have been found on the seafloor and are the subject of long-term studies.
M/V Med Taipei Incident
On February 24, 2004, 15 intermodal steel cargo containers fell overboard from the M/V Med Taipei as the vessel transited through Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary during a winter storm. In June 2004, while conducting a deep ocean survey, scientists from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) discovered one of M/V Med Taipei's 40-foot long intermodal cargo containers. The container (with its cargo of 1,159 steel-belted automobile tires) was resting inverted on the seafloor at a depth of 4,203 feet (1,281 meters) on Smooth Ridge, a submarine formation extending southwest from Monterey Bay. A computer simulation drift model predicted the other 14 containers also sank within sanctuary boundaries, yet their exact location remains unknown.
In January 2005, NOAA's Damage Assessment Center assessed the likely impacts of the deposition and deterioration of the 15 sunken containers over time in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and provided an estimation of the equivalent benefits that would be needed to compensate for lost ecological services. Taking into consideration the Damage Assessment Center’s analysis, as well as potential fines, government legal fees and costs to date, the shipping company agreed to pay the sanctuary a compensatory restoration settlement which funds projects such as studying and retrieving lost fishing gear, restoring and mitigating seafloor impacts from lost shipping containers, and the grounded and sunken vessel removal program. These projects have a greater certainty of success than attempting to recover the lost containers, as they are implemented to help restore important benthic habitats and compensate for the disturbance of ecological services derived from the impact and continued presence of the cargo containers on the seafloor.
The lost shipping container from M/V Med Taipei was studied by Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and MBARI to assess the container’s current condition, describe habitat and ecosystem impacts, and to bring public attention to this deep-sea phenomenon that has been increasing with economic globalization. In a 2014 report, scientists investigated the potential causes of container losses, the ecological impacts of a lost container on the seafloor, and summarized preventative measures that have either already been implemented or are currently under consideration.
This lost container has also served as the focus of the only long-term study of the impact of shipping containers on deep-sea communities. A 2023 report describes 17 years of observation of this container, located in the Monterey Submarine Canyon within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
