Port Congestion Update 08/20/2021

Weekly Vessels Anchored and at Terminals as of 08/20/2021

LA & LB: Anchored 32 | Terminal 28
Oakland: Anchored 1 | Terminal 6 | Coastal 3
NWSA: Anchored 8 | Terminal 7 | Drifting 2

Vessel Congestion Update
This week, the twin ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB) continue to experience a high number of container ships at anchorage with an average of 5.5 – 6.9 days wait to reach a terminal / berth. Cargo volume remains steady and continues at record high numbers. The Port of LB continued to exceed records over the last 12 of 13 months, and in July 2021, the Port of LA recorded the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year cargo increases. Large vessels continue to experience limited assignment of ILWU gangs to work the vessels and this extends the port stay by 3-4 days. The Port of Oakland’s vessel wait time continues to improve and is now down to 2-5 days.

On August 18, 2021, Gene Seroka, Executive Director at the Port of Los Angeles, stated in part: “Uncertainty is being fueled by increases in the delta variant as COVID-19 cases in both the U.S. and China have risen, most of the port’s shipped goods originate from China and consumer buying remains in full force.” Seroka’s other comments included: “The holiday peak shipping season is now starting and with increased backups anticipated, shoppers might consider starting on their gift lists a bit early this year. Even if the ports went to a 24/7 schedule, there would be hiccups along the way once cargo departs for its destination by rail and truck. Warehouses are overflowing, rail yards and carriage are maxed out, chassis containers continue to be hard to come by, ships are coming in and waiting to get worked on, and factories are behind in orders, even though our output is at record levels.”

Earlier in the summer, the Biden Administration announced the creation of a Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, led by the Secretaries of the U.S. Commerce, Transportation, and Agriculture Departments.  The goal is to bring stakeholders together to diagnose problems and surface solutions. The Federal Maritime Commission, Chairman Daniel Maffei, was quoted in part: “The challenge facing the entire supply chain amounts to squeezing 10 lanes of freeway traffic into five lanes.”

The Port of Long Beach and the Long Beach Container Terminal have reached construction completion of the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project, which combined two aging container terminals into one of the world’s most technologically advanced and greenest facilities in the world. It is estimated the terminal will have the capacity to process approximately 3.5 million TEU’s annually along with servicing the largest container vessels in the world without growing the environmental footprint. The facility is located at Pier E and is one of the busiest terminals in the San Pedro Complex.

On August 16, 2021, close to 50 container vessels were anchored near Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, where operations at Ningbo Meishan Port Terminal remained halted for six consecutive days after a dock worker tested positive for COVID-19. As of August 17, 2021, Splash indicated: “Still no indication when operations at the world’s largest port will resume.”  Carriers have been changing routes away from the Port of Ningbo, however, the Ningbo-Zhoushan port made a statement that other terminals, aside from Meishan, have been operating normally as they are directing shipping companies to other terminals and releasing information on a real-time data platform. Optimism remains high as the six terminals continue to operate at Ningbo Complex while the largest terminal may resume operations within a week.

There continues to be a concern in the rise of COVID-19 across the Southern provinces of Vietnam. Several active measures continue to curb the spread of the virus. On August 1st, the government instituted a lockdown for a two-week period covering Ho Chi Mihn City and most of the southern provinces. The manufacturing impact has meant several hundred factories have had to remain closed for 3-5 weeks and plan to gradually reopen next week. Those factories that remained open operated at a limited capacity under government guidelines which included living arrangements at the facility during the entire lockdown period.

In addition to Vietnam, COVID-19 outbreaks across Asia have led to further lockdowns and factory closures in Malaysia and Indonesia and several Chinese provinces appear to be escalating.

Please contact your Western Overseas representative with any questions.