Massive backup at both the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles
https://lbpost.com/news/heres-why-dozens-of-cargo-ships-are-parked-for-days-off-long-beachs-coast
Here’s why dozens of cargo ships are parked for days off Long Beach’s coast
Kelly Puente
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An usually high number of container ships are dotting the Long Beach coastline—sometimes waiting up to five days to dock—due to a perfect storm of record cargo numbers, the coming Chinese New Year and limited capacity at warehouses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Friday.
Despite a slowdown at the beginning of 2020 as the pandemic hit, the Port of Long Beach last year saw its busiest year on record, moving more than 8.1 million cargo container units, up 6.3% from 2019.
Consumer goods largely fueled the second half of 2020 as demand rose for medical supplies and home improvement items, like exercise equipment and office furniture, as more people worked from home in the pandemic.
Overall, December marked the busiest month in Port of Long Beach’s 110-year history as trade jumped 23% thanks to a holiday season surge and a rush of ships making up for voyages that were canceled earlier in the year.
But the record numbers have resulted in a massive backup at both the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as ships sit off the coastline waiting for days to unload. Over the past two months, an average of about two dozen ships were waiting to get into the ports, said Noel Hacegaba, deputy executive director for the Port of Long Beach.
On Friday, about 30 ships were anchored off the Long Beach coast as a thick brown haze lined the horizon.