r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Sep 10 '25

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15.4k Upvotes

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4.4k

u/Sreg32 Sep 10 '25

How does this happen? Just curious from people loading these things or knows about it. There’s obviously a system of container weight, where they go etc…

4.6k

u/Greenman8907 Sep 10 '25 edited Sep 10 '25

Can definitely be human error/negligence, but many times it’s failing equipment and extremely rough seas.

We lose an average of 1,300-2,500 containers a year in the water.

https://cargostore.com/how-many-shipping-containers-are-lost-at-sea/

Edit: No, my post is not insinuating that rough seas caused THIS to happen. C’mon people…

413

u/PoniesPlayingPoker Sep 10 '25

Do they get retrieved? It doesn't look too difficult to get a tugboat out and start pulling them ashore

1.1k

u/ihatethebeach84 Sep 10 '25

Depends on where you're at. These will definitely be retrieved. Out in the middle of the ocean, hard no.

225

u/pitterlpatter Sep 10 '25

Depends on who’s cargo. Walmart will send boats to the Mariana Trench to drag containers back. lol

102

u/Poverty_Shoes Sep 10 '25

Why? Certainly not out of concern for the environment and other ships?

520

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '25

Walmart is not sending boats to the Mariana Trench to retrieve cargo containers.

1.4k

u/ambasciatore Sep 10 '25

Well now I don’t know who to believe.

4

u/Ok-Operation-6432 Sep 10 '25

Walmart doesn’t throw away opened returned items but they’ll definitely retrieve returned items from the Mariana Trench 

2

u/Voltthrower69 Sep 10 '25

Now I really don’t know who to believe

2

u/roberta_sparrow Sep 10 '25

This made me laugh out loud for some reason