The port said its cargo backlog should clear within as little as two months.
The Port of Oakland said a cargo backup that developed at the port during the contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers is improving, and should clear within two months.
In its first operational update since a tentative five year was reached by the ILWU and Pacific Maritime Association on Feb. 20, the port said “gains in container movement are visible from ship to shore” with a declining vessel backup, decongested terminals, improved transaction times and better terminal productivity.
“This isn’t victory – there’s still a great deal of work to do,” said Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “But we’re seeing good collaboration between labor, terminal operators and harbor truckers and our customers will soon benefit from faster, smoother cargo flow.”
Port of Oakland officials said marine terminals have cleared out the import buildup in their container yards and delays are now mostly limited to containers still stowed on ships awaiting berths. The Port cautioned that temporary yard delays may recur as workers accelerate operations to eliminate the vessel backup.
Terminals are working nights and weekends to improve cargo flow.
On Friday there were six ships are anchored in San Francisco Bay or navigating outside the Golden Gate awaiting berths at the port, down from a high of 20 vessels in mid-February, the port said, adding the vessel logjam is expected to disappear within 10 days.
Vessels continue to arrive late after lengthy delays at Southern California ports and that could continue for a month or more as the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach struggle with even more severe congestion. The Port of Oakland said shipping lines that had truncated voyages so that they only called Los Angeles and omitted Oakland calls so they could get ships back on schedule are now resuming Oakland calls.
Marine terminals that were overflowing with import cargo awaiting pick-up have cleared out the backlog and the port’s two largest terminals are operating at 50-to-60 percent of container yard capacity, according to Port of Oakland. That means the terminals have room to handle more volume and that as containers are discharged from ships, imports are available for immediate pick-up.
Volume declined 32 percent in January at the Port of Oakland and February volumes will also be down, as effects of the contract impasse linger. Other major West Coast ports have reported similar declines.
The Port of Oakland said marine terminals are again opening their gates to exports destined for overseas markets, primarily in Asia. Export loading had diminished as Asia-bound vessels bypassed Oakland to recapture time lost at Southern California ports. Now that the ships are returning to Oakland, export capacity is increasing.
The port said requests for longshore labor to work in terminal yards are being filled, though it says there are some labor shortages due to extraordinary demand created by the vessel backup. On average, 10 ships a day are presently being loaded and unloaded in Oakland. Typically that number would be 3 to 5 ships.
The port said ship to shore cranes are moving 25 to 30 containers per hour, close to the port’s historic average of 30 to 35 moves. It said vessels that are normally worked in one day still require several days for loading and unloading, but that turnaround time has dropped significantly in the past two weeks.
The port also said the supply of container chassis is improving because once-overcrowded marine terminals again have room to accept empty containers. Empty returns had been mostly blocked during the cargo buildup, which kept the chassis with which they were paired out of circulation.
Port of Oakland said there’s more work for harbor truckers and wait times for drivers at gates and inside terminals have improved in the past two weeks, but cautioned wait times could spike as terminals clear out cargo still backlogged on ships.
Port of Oakland says congestion is easing
