A record of 56 container ships lined up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

Currently, the number of container ships moored waiting to enter the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach (LA/LB) is nearly double the number of ships being docked.

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Container ships lined up at the port of Los Angeles (Image: AFP)

According to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, the number of container ships moored in San Pedro Bay has now reached a new record of 56. Meanwhile, there are 31 container ships docked at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, meaning that the number of ships waiting to enter the port continues to increase and will soon double the number of container ships being docked.

The number of ships waiting at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has spiked because importers want to avoid peak season.

According to the Port of Los Angeles, the waiting time at the anchorage is 8.5 days based on a 30-day average. For the week of September 12-18, import volume is expected to be 133,582 TEUs, up 9.14% from the previous week and 25.06% from the same period last year. Import volume is expected to increase by 21.65% at the Port of Los Angeles for the week of September 19-25 to 162,498 TEUs, up 45.37% year-on-year.

A record imbalance between export and import volumes is causing massive backlogs of empty containers in Southern California ports.

The upcoming Golden Week holidays in China (October 1-7) could provide a respite as container lines blanking a number sailings for this period.

Meanwhile, not only is the import delay causing concern in the US, environmental groups are also worried about pollution from the large number of ships moored.

Mandeera Wijetunga, a climate and environmental campaigner in Southern California, Pacific said: "Just like idling cars, fossil fueled ships idling outside of our ports emit pollution that is bad for our air, bad for our communities and compounds our climate crisis. Emissions from the shipping industry contribute to the worst impacts of climate change, choke the air around our port communities and the surge from ships restocking for the holiday season has led to shocking levels of air pollution".

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