The US has its own supply-chain crisis brewing as dozens of cargo ships remain stuck off the coast of LA (Denver, examples)

[Suburban_Guy]

More rising prices and shortages of goods?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-own-su...130012367.html

While the Suez Canal jam may have captured public attention before the cargo ship Ever Given was freed, the US is quietly facing its own supply-chain crisis as dozens of freighters float off the coast of Los Angeles, waiting for dock space to open up.

California ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach account for about one third of US imports. These ports operate as a primary source of imports from China and have been heavily congested for months.

On Thursday, 28 ships were anchored off the coast waiting for a spot to open up to unload at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, according to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California.

[lookingaround12345]

The good thing is the ships are stuck right off shore not in the middle of nowhere. So as soon as a spot opens the cargo is available. Hopefully they can off load some incoming vessels to ports less heavily used to ease congestion. It probably gets complicated when you factor in rail connections. However having a huge amount of supplies right off shore is better than having no supplies. So this is a bit of a first world problem.

Some weirdos are still going to run out and buy metric cubes of toilet paper thinking it comes from these boats.

[bus man]

Is this a new issue, or have the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach been overcrowded for some time? If so, why aren't some of the ships routed to other ports? Sounds like a logistics failure to me.

[heySkippy]

They knew they'd be waiting before they even left their ports of origin. It's already baked into their schedules.

[Leo58]

There was a great opinion piece by David Von Drehle the other day:

Our power grid in California can’t survive heat; the one in Texas can’t survive cold. We have our own version of the blocked Suez Canal at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where container ships are backed up for weeks because there is not enough capacity to unload them. The average freight train passing through Chicago needs more than a day and a half to get from one side of the city to the other. Children in urban and rural areas alike are limited in their learning opportunities by slow or nonexistent wireless Internet. Truckers sleep on road shoulders and in grocery parking lots because safe rest stops are overcrowded. Computer systems require constant security upgrades against cyberwarriors and criminal hackers.

The author makes the point that investments in infrastructure pay for themselves, citing the Erie Canal, the English Channel tunnel and the Denver airport as examples. He also notes:

Despite looming demographic problems, China believes in its future; its heavy investments in infrastructure are the proof.

[Texamichiforniasota]

Originally Posted by bus man

Is this a new issue, or have the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach been overcrowded for some time? If so, why aren't some of the ships routed to other ports? Sounds like a logistics failure to me.

Per the article, the issue has been increased consumer spending and imports during the pandemic. Presumably, most of the big West Coast ports are at or above capacity, and the delay of anchoring is less than the delays of waiting to go through the Panama or Suez canal or to sail around Africa or South America to the East Coast ports.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by Texamichiforniasota

Per the article, the issue has been increased consumer spending and imports during the pandemic. Presumably, most of the big West Coast ports are at or above capacity, and the delay of anchoring is less than the delays of waiting to go through the Panama or Suez canal or to sail around Africa or South America to the East Coast ports.

The article doesn't say how long the typical ship has to wait from the moment when it arrives at the end of the queue until the moment when it ties up at the port. Is it a day? A week? A month? This would obviously matter in terms of whether or not its worth it to send some of them through the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast or East Coast.

[Texamichiforniasota]

Originally Posted by bus man

The article doesn't say how long the typical ship has to wait from the moment when it arrives at the end of the queue until the moment when it ties up at the port. Is it a day? A week? A month? This would obviously matter in terms of whether or not its worth it to send some of them through the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast or East Coast.

You're correct, it doesn't say how long each individual ship waits, but it does say the back up reached a peak in February with 10 more ships than are currently waiting. It also it's been a problem since Fall 2020, so presumably shipping lines have had time to do the math and have determined the time + fuel costs of going to the East Coast isn't worth it. Here is a more in depth article, and they cite a 7 day wait to dock. There are also back-ups on the warehousing and trucking side.

https://wwww.ktla.com/news/californi...nia-coast/amp/

[Dane_in_LA]

Originally Posted by bus man

The article doesn't say how long the typical ship has to wait from the moment when it arrives at the end of the queue until the moment when it ties up at the port. Is it a day? A week? A month? This would obviously matter in terms of whether or not its worth it to send some of them through the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast or East Coast.

Each component of the supply chain has been optimized to the point where there's barely any spare capacity anywhere in the system. Yay, efficiency! But while this of course saves money, it leaves the system as a whole vulnerable to point failures.

[Mr.Retired]

REsponse: Opinion

If I open up another container of sour yogurt I'm going to lose my mind. ( Sarcasm )