Rapid growth leads to ship delays in Southern California

摘要

Containerships at the fast-growing ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif, experienced significant delays this summer. Turnaround time for vessels shot up - from an average of three or four days to as much as six or seven now. And there are few signs that the congestion problems will be solved anytime soon. The outer anchorage in San Pedro Bay is often full of ships waiting for empty berths. Those ships that are able to go straight to the dock often must wait a couple of days for teams of longshoremen to start unloading their containers. To the shipping lines, the delays have meant added operating costs and late shipments for their customers. To avoid these disruptions, some ship operators have diverted their vessels to other West Coast ports.