A record number of container ships are moving out of the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach, and the inland transportation system is blocking container shipments out of the port

The port of SAN Pedro Bay in southern California is again operating at record levels, following a spate of construction of containers and container ships over the past month.

But at a time when ports are moving record numbers of containers, other key parts of the land transport system are reaching their limits. Congestion and bottlenecks are expected to continue to increase as imports of goods enter a typically busy season.

The Southern California Maritime Exchange and SAN Pedro Bay Ship Traffic Service reported that the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach remained at record levels, with 40 container ships waiting in anchorage or drifting areas.

Last Friday, 40 container ships were anchored in the area, the highest level since February 1. On the same day, they set a record of 70 container ships in the port, and there are still 70 container ships in the port today.

"Conventional and emergency anchorage remains essential," reports Kip Louttit, executive director of the Southern California Maritime Exchange, which is using all 10 emergency anchorage sites near Huntington Beach, Calif., with nine container ships and one tanker. Six other container ships are drifting further offshore because the port cannot provide anchorage.

Louttit reports that the port's 13 container ships meet the criteria for very large container ships, each with a capacity of more than 10,000 TEU. Seven of the vessels have a rated capacity of more than 13,000 TEU and are among the largest vessels handled in the port complex.

In its latest analysis of the Southern California supply chain, Project44 says: "While the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are handling record numbers of containers, the West Coast's antiquated rail and highway infrastructure is hampering the efficient movement of containers out of the ports. West Coast ports are having capacity problems that north American rail and road carriers are having dealing with the influx of containers because of traffic congestion inland."

The average weekly berthing time at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell by nearly three days last week, according to Project44, suggesting a strong rebound in demand to handle the backlog of container ships once they arrive at the docks. However, the Port of Los Angeles, in its daily signal update for incoming traffic, showed that wait times at anchorage increased by nearly a day, to an average of 7.6 days.

Industry experts attributed the recent surge in inventories to retailers and manufacturers, which began stocking up earlier than usual in anticipation of further congestion heading into the busy holiday season at the end of the year.

The Maritime Exchange reported that its systems showed a higher than normal rate of ship arrivals in the coming days. A total of 37 ships are currently scheduled to arrive in the next three days, including 15 container ships, which would be close to the pre-pandemic levels of 2018-2019.

In addition, due to the reopening of Ningbo's Meishan pier this week, blank flights are expected to decline, with large numbers of containers expected to flood these ports in the coming weeks.

In its outlook report, the Port of Los Angeles predicted that container traffic at the port would increase by nearly 30% in two weeks. Throughput this week has increased 15% from last week to an estimated 136,000 TEU, compared with an estimated 176,000 TEU for the week of September 5.

Project44 concluded in its analysis: "If recent events tell us anything, it is that the impact of the pandemic on ports, combined with tight mainland capacity and infrastructure, could still prevent critical inventories from reaching retailers in time for the year-end holiday selling season."

Maritime officials remain confident that the Southern California port complex can operate as efficiently as possible during the pandemic. However, they expect more records to be broken in the coming weeks, with all parts of the supply chain facing challenges to keep up with the expected wave of imports.