The extraordinary volume of delayed ocean freight from Asia around the West Coast ports of the United States, which is playing a significant role in creating inflationary shortages and breakdowns in the American economy, is continuing to worsen, according to a report published in FreightWaves Oct. 20.
An all-time record 103 large container ships – which carry most, but not all, of oceangoing non-bulk cargo – were either at port docks or waiting offshore at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports on that day. Some 79 of them were offshore, waiting with about 600,000 TEUs of cargo. The number had increased by 30 or so since EIR’s first report in mid-September, despite China’s factory production having dropped somewhat due to electricity shortages and plant shutdowns; and despite plant closures elsewhere in Asia due to COVID.
As for the time of delays, the average time for a container ship to wait offshore before even entering port had risen from a week in mid-September to 13 days now; some ships, run by smaller maritime companies, had been waiting up to six weeks according to FreightWaves. One of the ships had meanwhile, apparently, caused a damaging oil spill by dragging its anchor into a pipeline.
The freight itself is therefore waiting an average 13 days for a chance to wait—another week for unloading, 5-6 days to be moved off the ports to railheads or trucking depots, and then an irregular wait for truck pickups due to shortages of drivers (some drivers are avoiding these routes if they can, because they themselves are not paid for, or lose money on, the days they have to wait for the freight).
