For the third day, the Port of Los Angeles’ largest terminal remained closed as its operator, A.P. Moller-Maersk, grapples with a cyberattack that hit companies and governments around the globe.
Tom Gazsi, head of Los Angeles’ port police, said there are no ships scheduled to dock on Thursday, and port officials said it’s unclear when the terminal will reopen.
The Danish shipping company, one of the hardest hit, released a statement Thursday saying that it “is cautiously progressing towards technical recovery to ensure the issue remains contained. It is too early to give a timeline for normal state of business to be restored.”
The APM Terminal in Los Angeles was one of 17 run by the Danish shipping giant hammered by software that crippled computers globally, including four in the United States. Terminal operators depend on the shipping companies cargo data and systems to run smoothly. At the Los Angeles port, truckers could not pick up their loads.
But, Gazsi said the terminal operations weren’t infected by the virus, rather the company has shut down the systems in an effort to contain the attack. Gene Seroka, head of Los Angeles port, said he saw the attack as “a call to action” and would continue to work with the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement officials to combat the threat of cyberattacks.
About 90 percent of the world’s goods are shipped by sea and Moller-Maersk is one of the world’s largest operators.
