JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Trailer Bridge barge that was plundered off the coast of the Bahamas has finally returned to Jacksonville, concluding a tumultuous nine-day episode. This incident saw nearly all containers aboard either broken into, looted, or lost to the sea.

The chaos began on November 11 when a mechanical failure occurred on the tug Southern Dawn amid severe weather conditions while it was headed to Puerto Rico.

The incident led to the tow wire snapping, causing the Brooklyn Bridge barge to drift before running aground on a reef approximately three miles from the Bahamas.

The tow wire snapped, leaving the Brooklyn Bridge barge adrift before it grounded on a reef roughly three miles off the Bahamas.

With no power, the stranded barge quickly caught the attention of locals. 

By the evening of November 13, Trailer Bridge alerted the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy that approximately 50 looters were actively raiding the barge. Bahamian police responded but declined to intervene, citing safety concerns.

Maritime attorney Rod Sullivan said what happened next was unlike anything typically seen in the Puerto Rico shipping trade.

“Breaking into 181 containers,” Sullivan said, “that’s a big job.”

According to Sullivan, the looters had unrestricted access, with authorities not intervening.

Trailer Bridge confirmed in a statement that of the 192 containers aboard, only 11 remained sealed. The rest were pried open—many with bolt cutters—and stripped of valuables. Items too large to carry off were tossed into the ocean.

“We’re talking about each container having somewhere between $50,000 and $200,000 worth of cargo,” Sullivan clarified. “Anything they couldn’t take back to the Bahamas was dumped into the ocean.”

Cleanup crews in the Bahamas have since recovered appliances, packaging, and debris scattered across the reef.

Sullivan notes that while maritime theft is common in some parts of the world, such as the Singapore Straits, it is highly unusual for the Jacksonville-to-Puerto Rico route.

“If this barge hadn’t broken away and ended up on the reef, it probably would not have been looted,” Sullivan said.

The consequences are now rippling outward—from insurers working through what could be a multi-million-dollar claim, to families in Puerto Rico expecting shipments that never arrived.

“The people in Puerto Rico will probably suffer some shortages over the next few weeks as they try to make up for the cargo that was stolen,” Sullivan said.

Many of the containers held personal belongings from people relocating to the island. Others held food, appliances, and commercial freight.

The Brooklyn Bridge barge arrived back at JAXPORT on November 21, where crews finished unloading and began a container-by-container inventory with insurance carriers. Trailer Bridge says the process could take weeks as they work to identify what was taken and return salvageable items to customers.

The company is also funding the reef cleanup in the Bahamas, which it expects to complete within the week.

Trailer Bridge thanked U.S. officials for supporting the barge’s return and said its priority remains the safety of personnel and the accurate accounting of customer cargo.