Full Steam Ahead at Local Ports
Cargo traffic is chugging along at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as they regain their popularity as a shipping destination for Asian goods.
According to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which tracks ship traffic at the two ports, cargo container ship arrivals were up 11.6 percent from January to April compared with the same period in 2005. Moreover, 1,007 cargo container ships arrived at both ports during the four-month period this year compared with 902 last year.
“Not only is the ship count up, but the size of the ship is up,” said Manny Aschemeyer, the Marine Exchange’s executive director. “We are getting more of the ships that carry 8,500 20-foot cargo containers instead of the ships that carry 4,500 to 5,000 cargo containers.”
For the first three months of the year, the Port of Los Angeles had 1.77 million 20-foot cargo containers pass through its piers, or a 6.1 percent increase over the same period last year. The Port of Long Beach saw its cargo volume rise 12.4 percent during the same time, with 1.65 million 20-foot cargo containers.
The two ports experienced major gridlock problems during the prime shipping season in 2004, causing many shippers to divert their cargo to Oakland, Calif., Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., last year. —Deborah Belgum
