news
USA: Seattle effectively closed, backlog of ships in LA-LB due to ILWU strikes.
Fully loaded ships were backed up in Los Angeles and Long Beach on Wednesday because workers were not assigned to some vessels.
Poor labour productivity has effectively shut down the Port of Seattle, while a half-dozen ships have been prevented from leaving Southern California due to insufficient workers on shore. Strikes by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) continued to disrupt operations at West Coast marine terminals on Wednesday.
Coast-wide contract talks between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents shipping companies and terminal operators, were scheduled to resume on Wednesday after being suspended on Tuesday following the death of an Oakland longshoreman who suffered a stroke.
At least a half-dozen ships that were nearly fully loaded and scheduled to leave the ports were unable to leave because the final step – lashing the top row of containers to secure them to the ship – could not be done because the ILWU had not sent workers.
The Marine Exchange of Southern California, which keeps a record of arriving and departing vessels, confirmed the delays in sailing.
Some train services to LA-LB were temporarily suspended.
The labour situation at the ports also posed a threat to intermodal rail service in Southern California. A Union Pacific Railroad spokesman told the Journal of Commerce that rail service was temporarily suspended Tuesday at three Los Angeles-Long Beach marine terminals because freight was backed up at UP inland terminals, but those restrictions were lifted Wednesday. BNSF told the Journal of Commerce that it had not restricted train service to Southern California.
West Coast contract negotiations, which began in May 2022 and have led to numerous work stoppages over the past 13 months that have delayed freight movement, have broken down over the wage issue.
Lamprecht Transport Ltd. is closely monitoring the situation.
