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 it can take up to two weeks for a ship to get a mooring. In addition, approximately 40 vessels are in anchorage and another 20 or 30 remain adrift and once they have moved away, for example, 2 miles, they return to their original position. "Can you imagine the amount of fuel that is burned?" asks the analyst.

Furthermore, a ship already docked may then lose even more time in being unloaded. «If a small ship (less than 2.000 TEUs) took 2 and a half days to unload and leave a terminal, now it can take between 4 and 6 days. On that level, she explains that documenting the time of arrival and obtaining a berth does not guarantee labor, which has become as problematic as docking. 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 the moment. “This will help to some extent, however, if importers do not step up to adapt to this change, we will not be able to support the possible inefficiencies. Once ports are full, terminals cancel crews and wait for containers to clear before unloading more containers. Importers will have to modify their resources (trucks) to collect containers at night. Currently, only a portion 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 surpassed one million TEUs. A record number. Can LA handle the volume? The truth is, no".

And despite the stoppage of ships, it seems that more capacity is entering the ocean. TSI Lines, the intra-Asian feeder service, introduced ships on the Transpacific route that call in Vancouver. COSCO, for its part, will increase the size of its ships on a service from 5.000 TEUs to 13.000 TEUs and may have an even larger ship calling in 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 commerce."

Everything is used to transport containers

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

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

Asia port

According to comments monroe, the ports of Vietnam are still closed and it could take some time before they recover and return 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 Covid from spreading to other cities and provinces. Even if that means closing their factories and ports.