The nation’s largest ports shattered more records Monday as massive bottlenecks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continue to wreak supply chain havoc.
The Marine Exchange of Southern California reported 100 vessels berthed October 18, topping the previous record of 97 set September 19.
Both figures are astonishingly higher than during pre-pandemic times, when just 17 ships were anchored.
Officials have resorted to holding areas not used since 2004 to accommodate the surge of container, bulk, and cargo ships.
Cargo carriers have waited up to five weeks for their turn to unload goods, said Capt. Kit Louttit, executive director of the marine exchange.
Thousands of containers sit, waiting to be unloaded from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where vessel traffic broke all-time records Monday as the supply crunch continues
The Marine Exchange of Southern California reported 100 vessels at anchor October 18, topping the previous record of 97 set September 19
Of the 100 vessels at anchor, 70 are cargo ships carrying consumer goods to Americans
The ports' contingency anchorages, which previously went unused, are now 'essentially full'
‘Crews are bored to tears,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘They’re sitting on the ship, looking onshore, eating three meals a day and standing watch.’
Once the containers reach land, it takes weeks more to queue and unload them, he added.
Of the vessels at harbor Monday, 33 container ships were stuck in holding areas, breaking a former record of 29 set on September 20.
Louttit said he’s never seen anything like it.
‘It is an all-time record to have 100 vessels out there,’ he said.
‘The number of container ships out there is 70, so there’s your holiday shopping.’
Kit Louttit, executive director of the marine exchange, said he's never seen anything like it
The White House warned American shoppers last week that they won't be able to get key items such as popular kids toys for Christmas because of supply chain backlogs.
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