800 dockworkers unable to arrive at work due to new crown! Los Angeles/Long Beach port dock efficiency down, over 100 ships backlogged!

Some 800 Los Angeles and Long Beach port dock workers missed work this week due to the new crown virus. The Omicron variant is preventing the busiest port complex in the United States from clearing a backlog of more than 100 container ships as infection rates among Southern California dockworkers rise. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) said that as of Monday, about 800 dock workers - about one-tenth of the daily workforce at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach - were unable to work for reasons related to the new coronavirus. The absentees include workers who have tested positive for nucleic acid, those in quarantine and those awaiting test results or feeling unwell. The Pacific Maritime Association provides workforce coverage for terminal operators on the west coast of the United States. The association said the number of worker infections per day has risen rapidly in recent weeks, from a few cases per day to dozens, reaching about 150 cases per day last week. This labour shortage meant that fewer dock workers than required were working for the port's two container ships this Monday, while 13 ships were left without workers to load and unload cargo, which effectively halted operations. According to the Southern California Maritime Exchange, which monitors ship movements in the region, 102 container ships were waiting for berths outside the two ports that day. 800 dock workers were unable to arrive at work due to the new crown! Los Angeles/Long Beach port dock efficiency down, over 100 ships backed up! Dozens of container ships have been waiting outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for weeks or months to unload their cargoes as the large volume of imports overwhelmed logistics operations delivering goods to the US market. the backlog grew to 100 ships in late November and reached a record 106 on New Year's Day. And prior to the outbreak, it was uncommon for multiple ships to wait for berths. Alan McCorkle, chief executive of YusenTerminalsLLC at the Port of Los Angeles, said the increase in coronavirus infections had amplified the shortage of workers that began over the Christmas and New Year holidays, causing productivity at its terminals to drop by about 20 per cent. This will only prolong the port's fight to get back to normal. FrankPonceDeLeon, head of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents port workers on the US West Coast, said dock workers helped handle record volumes of cargo last year and were as vulnerable to the new coronavirus as other workers. A record 200,000 confirmed cases were reported in Los Angeles County, where many port workers live, in the week ending Jan. 8. The surge in new-crown cases has rippled through the global supply chain at a time of labour shortages at Southern California ports, with production slowing at US factories and port operations in China briefly restricted. Congestion and bottlenecks at US and European ports are worsening, Denmark-based maritime consultancy Sea-Intelligence said in a report on Tuesday. 800 longshoremen unable to arrive at work due to the new crown! Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach dock efficiency down, over 100 ships backlogged! The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the main gateway ports for the US to receive imports from Asia, handling about 40% of the containerised cargo entering the US. As US consumers shifted spending from services to goods during the outbreak and businesses rushed to replenish their inventories, the two ports struggled to cope with record containerized cargo imports last year, which surged by about 20 per cent compared to 2019 levels before the outbreak of the new crown outbreak. Noel Hacegaba, deputy executive director of the Port of Long Beach, said in a statement that the Port of Long Beach's terminals remain open and continue to extend service hours despite an increase in the number of workers infected. The Port of Los Angeles referred questions about the labour shortage to the Pacific Maritime Association. Pacific Maritime Association chief executive Jim McKenna said the terminal may be able to catch up on some of the backlog if Asian factories reduce operations during the Lunar New Year, which begins in a few weeks. But he warned that most of his members, including