The US is facing a supply-chain crisis as 21 cargo ships float off the coast of LA waiting to dock
Business Insider via Yahoo ^ | April 15th, 2021 | Grace Kay
Posted on 4/15/2021, 8:20:39 PM by Mariner
A supply-chain crisis is quietly brewing off the coast of Southern California as massive freighters wait 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 Wednesday, 21 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.
The Southern California ports are facing more congestion than ever, Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, told Insider.
"The normal number of container ships at anchor is between zero and one," Louttit said.
Some of the container ships have been waiting off the shore for weeks. One of the vessels has been at berth since April 3. Of the ships waiting to dock, half of them are what Marine Exchange calls "mega-container ships" or ships with the carrying capacity of 10,000 TEUs.
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