All U.S. port facilities have been reopened, but expect delays due to new security procedures.
Vessel traffic has slowed at West Coast ports amid heightened security following Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The Coast Guard has instituted a more rigid inspection policy for all vessels entering the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Each vessel must report to anchorage and await a Coast Guard inspection team, which will examine shipping documentation and the vessels themselves.
The inspection policy is resulting in about an eight-hour delay in getting vessels to berth in the nation's busiest port complex. "It's delaying us about one shift," said Edward DeNike, chief operating officer of Stevedoring Services of America.
On Wednesday the Coast Guard instituted a similar inspection policy in the San Francisco Bay area. Although it is too soon to determine what impact the policy will have, Northern California ports are also feeling the impact of vessels being delayed in Southern California, said Clement Chin, senior manager of business development and marketing at the Port of Oakland.
Most liner services in the Pacific Southwest region call Los Angeles-Long Beach as their first port inbound. They then call in Oakland before returning to Asia.
The Coast Guard in the Pacific Northwest is inspecting vessels randomly, as it always has. However, not every incoming vessel is being inspected as in Southern California, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
According to Mick Shultz, a spokesman at the Port of Seattle, operations were proceeding as usual on Wednesday.
The Marine Exchange of Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor reported that at least two dozen ships were expected in the harbor Tuesday and Wednesday. The Coast Guard was operating seven inspection teams, and the typical inspection was taking 30-35 minutes. Delays are occurring because of the inspections, but also because the Coast Guard is limiting vessel movements in and out of the ports to one direction at a time. The Coast Guard will not say how long it intends to restrict traffic.
Los Angeles and Long Beach also experienced delays on Tuesday because many longshoremen walked off the job during the first shift. Ramon Ponce deLeon, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13, said the longshoremen were concerned about the safety of the harbor in light of the terrorist attacks on the East Coast.
"We required a contingency plan for evacuation in case of an emergency," he said. After meeting with employers and the Coast Guard, the longshoremen agreed to return to work for the evening shift on Tuesday. Terminal operators Wednesday morning reported they were getting full gangs. The ILWU did not walk off the job at other West Coast ports.
Due to the delays in getting vessels into berth in Los Angeles-Long Beach Wednesday, some longshore gangs had to be sent home. When a gang of longshoremen is called to a terminal, the workers must be paid for four hours even if there is no work to do. Gate and yard operations were fluid on Wednesday. Trucks were moving freely into and out of the terminals. No significant delays were reported at the gates.
An update from the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Wednesday morning reported 24 ships at berth, 5 anchored inside the breakwater, and 20 anchored outside the breakwater.
The Coast Guard has deployed five teams to conduct inspections of all vessels before they are permitted to dock, and had completed two pre-entry inspections, with another 16 awaiting inspections. Two more ships have been cleared to sail. Each inspections takes about one hour.
The port expects 11 ships to arrive today, and 16 on Thursday.
