An investigation has been launched into an incident where a suspicious cargo container caused traffic at a Port of Los Angeles cargo terminal to be halted for about five hours last week.
Authorities were called around 3:30 pm on Dec. 21 after a container with the word “bomb” spray painted on it in two places was found aboard the Singapore-flagged APL Belgium cargo vessel while docked at Pier 300.
Port police, U.S. Customs officials and the Los Angeles police and fire departments all responded to the incident, and all loading and unloading at the terminal was temporarily suspended while the ship’s 20-person crew was evacuated.
The suspect container was eventually removed from the ship and inspected. No explosives or other suspicious materials were found. Normal operations resumed at the terminal sometime after 9 pm.
Port spokesman Philip Sanfield said the vessel had originated in Vietnam and stopped at the Port of Oakland before arriving at the APL terminal in Los Angeles last week.
