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Port of Los Angeles takes brunt of congestion as Long Beach troubles ease

THE Port of Los Angeles is bearing the brunt of San Pedro Bay harbour congestion while neighbouring Long Beach appears to be suffering less, reports Lloyd's List.

Eight of the the 13 vessels at anchor were containerships earlier this week, according to Marine Exchange of Southern California.

Containerships were still heading to Los Angeles this the largest port in the US. The one heading for Long Beach was able to dock.

G6 alliance ships were more severely affected, with vessels of member lines NYK and Hapag-Lloyd suffering delays, aggravated by the necessity of some alliance ships having to call at more than one terminal.

More ships are bound for southern California, with another seven due to arrive on Tuesday and eight more on Wednesday, but congestion is expected to ease as the peak season draws to a close.

Forward bookings show that volumes should start to lessen by mid-November, said the report.

Still dock congestion that impacts along supply chains has brought to light structural problems that may take years to fix. Mega containerships that are now carrying three times more boxes than five to eight years ago means far greater volume is being unloaded at one time at terminals not built to handle it.

Conversion from the traditional carrier-owned chassis fleet to one managed by independent firms has created confusion and lack of access to chassis.

There are also burdensome federal mandates for import and export documentation, new security measures imposed by Japan, China and the European Union, and "uninformed legislative proposals" such as the recently introduced bill to scan every container arriving in the US.

Slow progress in automating cargo-handling processes is also putting a brake on port efficiency.