The previous week the unthinkable sum of 71 ships waiting to berth in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (LA-LB) was counted. Jon monroe, an industry analyst explains that a ship can take up to two weeks to get a mooring. In addition, about 40 vessels are in the anchorage and another 20-30 remain adrift and once they have moved away, say 2 miles, they return to their original position. "Can you imagine the amount of fuel that is burned?" asks the analyst.

In addition, a ship that is already berthed can then lose even more time to be unloaded. “If a small vessel (less than 2.000 TEUs) used to take 2 and a half days to unload and leave a terminal, now it can take between 4 and 6 days. On this level, he explains that documenting the arrival time and obtaining the mooring does not guarantee labor, which has become as problematic as the mooring. Crews are assigned daily and the number of crews (1 crew = 1 crane) needed to unload the vessel depends on the size of the vessel.

"Right now it's crazy," he says Monroe, who explains that if the pier is too congested, the terminal will cancel crews to wait for the pier to clear. Thus, these are the three most pressing problems congesting Southern California terminals today: berths, manpower (the right number of crews for the ship to work efficiently) and capacity of the vessels. ports.

It details that there are other factors that contribute to this, such as the excess of ships and the lack of rail and train equipment to move the containers out of the terminals to a place in the interior, which is becoming a problem as shipping lines begin to limit IPI shipments [Inland Point Intermodal]. Given the above, companies are opting for a transshipment model on the West Coast, which is adding more congestion to the terminal space.

He maintains that it appears that the LA-LB ports will move to a 24/7 operating model, at least for now. “This will help to some extent, however if importers don't step up to adapt to this change, we won't be able to support potential inefficiencies. Once the ports are full, the terminals cancel crews and wait for the containers to vacate before unloading more containers. Importers will have to modify their resources (trucks) to pick up containers at night. Currently, only a part of the containers are collected at night. Let's see how this works. We need it to work."

Favorable measure?

In the middle of this congestion Monroe questions MSC's move to announce two new services with calls at southern California ports. And the doubts are evident: Is it really necessary to add more calls at LA-LGB ports? How much more tonnage can shipping lines add to an overloaded system? Does the new MSC service add value to the trade? The answer according to Monroe is that “not really”, since “it only adds more complexity to the current congestion. Last month, the port of Los Angeles barely exceeded one million TEUs. A record number. Can LA handle the volume? The truth is, no".

And despite the stoppage of the ships, it seems that more capacity is entering the ocean. TSI Lines, the intra-Asian feeder service, introduced ships on the Trans-Pacific route that call at Vancouver. COSCO, for its part, will increase the size of its vessels in a service from 5.000 TEUs to 13.000 TEUs and may have an even larger vessel calling at LA. “At a time when we need more than ever blank sailing, we are receiving more ships. What are shipping lines thinking about? Question Monroe before concluding that “the only investments they make are in more ships to make more money. They have lost their focus on trade.”

Everything is used to transport containers

“Once again, we find ourselves in the middle of an asset chain gridlock, a crash, or whatever you want to call it. All vessels that have a bottom large enough to transit the Pacific are accepting containers, no matter the type. Swire Shipping has recently started moving containers on its bulk carriers. All shipping companies, of any type, want to take advantage of the flourishing Trans-Pacific route, ”she maintains.

Monroe explains that this began with the charter of multipurpose vessels that can load a small number of containers just like bulk carriers, but "even so, they serve to move containers and unload them in terminals that are not as congested, which speeds up the delivery process ”.

Asia port

According to comments monroe, the ports of Vietnam is still in lockdown and it could be some time before they recover and get back to normal. The country has less than 6% of the population vaccinated, which will complicate its exports of footwear and toys for the Christmas season. In Xiamen, China, a similar situation exists and it is getting worse. “Factories are closing while workers are asked to stay home. It could take several weeks before you recover. The government is demanding that the entire city be tested" and reiterates that in China "they will do whatever is necessary to prevent the Covid from spreading to other cities and provinces. Even if it means closing their factories and ports."