Weight input error led to President Eisenhower container loss and damage

The area of the container collapse is pictured (left) and a closer view of the collapsed containers on the President Eisenhower (right). (Source: U.S. Coast Guard)

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its report into a February 6, 2024 incident in which the U.S.-flag containership President Eisenhower lost 23 shipping containers overboard and another 10 were damaged. At the time, the 984-foot-long, 7,471 TEU vessel, which was operated by CMA CGM Group member APL Maritime Ltd., 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.

The NTSB has determined that the probable cause of the container loss aboard the President Eisenhower was the input of incorrect cargo weight for 39 containers when the cargo loading plan was developed by shoreside planners, resulting in the containers being loaded in overweight and reverse-stratified stacks, causing cargo-securing equipment to fail while the vessel was drifting.

The cargo loading plan for the President Eisenhower was developed by the shoreside planners using the verified gross mass, or VGM, of each container, which was provided by the booking agent. The VGM was determined by combining the empty weight of the container plus the weight of the cargo loaded into it. Before the plan was developed, the booking agent had to manually enter the cargo weight of 40 containers due to an error in the booking system. During the manual entry, 39 container cargo weights were entered incorrectly and the VGM for those containers was significantly underreported.

The actual VGMs for the 39 containers was 18.3 to 22.2 metric tons greater than the VGMs used to develop the cargo loading plan. Because the cargo loading plan included inaccurate VGMs, the container stack weights exceeded the maximum weight limit and the containers were loaded in reverse-stratified stacks, which caused the cargo-securing equipment to fail while the vessel drifted south of Oakland.

The booking agent has since modified its procedures and booking system to prevent this type of input error from occurring again.

• Download the full NTSB report HERE