November 11, 2021 – The shipping logjams at ports in Southern California reached an all-time high of 81 container ships stuck offshore of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Tuesday. Wait times for anchorage in Los Angeles is currently more than double wait times from early September.
The overwhelmed ports are scheduled to start charging an excess dwell-time fee on Monday, a highly controversial plan that some members of the National Shippers Advisory Council called “catastrophic,” “crazy” and “out of left field,” according to Freight Waves.
As of Wednesday – a scant five days until the fees begin – there were still over 51,000 containers on the terminals that are past the plan’s dwell-time limits.
If the fee plan is not delayed or modified, the aggregate cost to carriers would start next Monday in the millions per day and escalate to tens of millions per day later in the week, Freight Waves says.
Experts believe those high fees would largely be passed on to U.S. importers
Asked about the level of fees that are set to start next week, a spokesperson for the Port of Los Angeles told American Shipper: “The Harbor Commission granted the executive director discretion regarding the program. More details and information will be coming on or before the 15th.”