When the ports in California returned to growth in container traffic in the latter part of 2020, the San Pedro Bay port, and the supply chain around it was already under pressure. Companies were struggling to get their holiday goods at the time off their vessels through the ports and into the stores.
Many of these vessels waited at anchorage and now the surge continues into 2021 where the average of waiting vessels grow in epic proportions. There are delays at the port, at the berth and at anchorage. The supply chain is now pushed and stretched. There is more cargo being pushed through San Pedro’s Port in greater speeds than it can manage causing a pile up of ships offshore San Pedro Bay. It seems that each moving piece in the supply and demand sector from the consumers to the suppliers and all those in between will not move in synch for as long as Covid-19 is around. What we can be hopeful for to ease congestion is putting the ports out to use in full capacity and if possible, to re-route the containers to different ports in the USA that are not as congested as the ports in California.
