US Coast Guard reports another fire in misdeclared container of scrapped lithium-ion batteries at the San Pedro Bay port complex
The US Coast Guard has recently reported another fire in a misdeclared container of scrapped lithium-ion batteries, according to the Standard Club's release.
On 4 March 2022, LA / Long Beach Coast Guard received a report of a shipping container on fire at the San Pedro Bay port complex at LA/Long Beach. The box was due to be loaded on a vessel sailing for China and was waiting on the quay. After a grueling fire-fighting operation which involved 40 fire firefighters from the LA fire department it was noted that the container was misdeclared and whilst the bills of lading indicated that the container was carrying 'synthetic resins' a non-hazardous material, the container in reality held used lithium-ion batteries, which are hazardous materials with a high propensity for fire.
As a precaution, the Coast Guard worked with port officials to find and identify any other shipping containers at the facility that might pose the same risk. Together with stakeholders, the USCG worked to identify and inspect all containers belonging to the same shipper. In addition, the Coast Guard placed a hold on all the shipper's outbound boxes until they can prove that the shipments comply with safety regulations.
This is the second reported incident in the US, and in August 2021, a container containing misdeclared used lithium-ion batteries caught fire whilst en route on a truck to the Port of Virginia for onward shipment to a Chinese port. The bills of lading indicated that the container was carrying 'computer parts' and upon investigation it was noted that the shipper failed to properly placard, label, mark and package the lithium batteries, class 9, UN 3480 and 3481. Causation was attributed to the residual charge/full circuit, which led to a thermal increase.
Following these incidents, The USCG have, on 10 March 2022, released a marine safety alert on lithium- ion battery fires.
