California ports bottlenecks remain

The number of container ships waiting to be unloaded at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, reportedly reached 73 vessels the weekend of Sept. 18-19.

A Wall Street Journal article, republished online by the Greece-based Hellenic Shipping News, cites the Marine Exchange of Southern California as the source of that figure, and says the total of more than 70 ships is “nearly double the number a month ago and expanding a fleet that has become a stark sign of the disruptions and delays roiling global supply chains.”

The article indicates some ships have already or may head to other West Coast ports, but also states, “Other West Coast ports, like Oakland or Seattle, simply aren’t large enough to handle the hundreds of thousands of containers that Los Angeles and Long Beach unload, store and move by truck or rail each week.”

Exporters of scrap metal, paper and plastic products have been among those experiencing difficulties in accessing containers and making bookings or, even more commonly, watching shipping commitments meet with lengthy delays.

Regarding the current Southern California backup, the Wall Street Journal adds, “Before the pandemic, it was unusual for more than one ship to wait for a berth.”

On the inbound side, the delivery of Christmas and holiday season merchandise from China and other parts of Asia to the United States is responsible for an increase in the bottleneck situation, say logistics professionals quoted in the article.