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How 'Chaos' In The Shipping Industry Is Choking The Economy


dinneR

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Another good story from Planet Money

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/06/15/1006381735/how-chaos-in-the-shipping-industry-is-choking-the-economy

On both land and at sea, the entire supply chain is struggling to keep up. In the Pacific Northwest, it's become such a clusterfest that the U.S. Coast Guard has been redirecting boats to anchor off the coast of Whidbey Island and other places they typically don't park. Ship crews are having to wait days, even weeks, for the chance to dock at the ports and offload their precious goods.

It's the same story up and down the West Coast. In San Francisco Bay, the traffic jam of container ships has gotten so bad that the U.S. Coast Guard has been asking ships not to enter the bay at all. Robert Blomerth, director of the USCG's San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service, said last week that there were 16 container ships waiting in the open ocean outside the Golden Gate to get in and unload their cargo. He says it's "completely abnormal."

When we spoke to Gene Seroka, the head of the Port of Los Angeles, he said his port had 19 ships waiting to dock and they're now waiting, on average, about five days to get in. In normal times, they don't have to wait at all.

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9 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

So that’s why west coast bike shops have bikes. They are shipping them all to the west coast. My LBS still has over 800 bikes on back order. No bikes in the showroom except a few kids bikes.

Hey LJ I dig your new avatar!

The guy I ride with on Thursday’s had to go to the LBS for something and said the place was wall to wall bike boxes.  You may be on to something. 

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44 minutes ago, denniS said:

Another good story from Planet Money

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/06/15/1006381735/how-chaos-in-the-shipping-industry-is-choking-the-economy

On both land and at sea, the entire supply chain is struggling to keep up. In the Pacific Northwest, it's become such a clusterfest that the U.S. Coast Guard has been redirecting boats to anchor off the coast of Whidbey Island and other places they typically don't park. Ship crews are having to wait days, even weeks, for the chance to dock at the ports and offload their precious goods.

It's the same story up and down the West Coast. In San Francisco Bay, the traffic jam of container ships has gotten so bad that the U.S. Coast Guard has been asking ships not to enter the bay at all. Robert Blomerth, director of the USCG's San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service, said last week that there were 16 container ships waiting in the open ocean outside the Golden Gate to get in and unload their cargo. He says it's "completely abnormal."

When we spoke to Gene Seroka, the head of the Port of Los Angeles, he said his port had 19 ships waiting to dock and they're now waiting, on average, about five days to get in. In normal times, they don't have to wait at all.

What's the bottleneck?  If the ships are waiting, is it a longshoreman issue? A trucking or train issue?  A red tape thing? All of the above?

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2 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Hey LJ I dig your new avatar!

The guy I ride with on Thursday’s had to go to the LBS for something and said the place was wall to wall bike boxes.  You may be on to something. 

Well the one good thing about the bike shortage is I didn’t have to feel guilty about ordering a Lynskey. I have always bought all my bikes from my LBS (we only have one) and the owner is a really nice guy.

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6 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

What's the bottleneck?  If the ships are waiting, is it a longshoreman issue? A trucking or train issue?  A red tape thing? All of the above?

You could read the article or I could keep posting excerpts for you.

How did shipping get topsy-turvy?

In the early days of the pandemic, global trade hit an iceberg and sank into the abyss. The decline of maritime shipping was so dramatic that American scientists saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study what happened to whales in the absence of a constant deluge of vessels. The noise from the ships apparently stresses them out — kind of like they're currently stressing out the residents of Whidbey Island.

Greater tranquility for whales in the first half of 2020 was the result of shipping companies canceling their trips and docking their ships. Then the economy rebounded, and American consumers unleashed a tidal wave of demand that swept through the shipping industry when they started shifting their spending patterns. Unable to spend money on going out, many started spending their money (and their stimulus checks) on manufactured goods — stuff that largely comes from China on container ships.

At first, it wasn't the ships that were the problem; it was the containers. When the buying spree began, Chinese exporters struggled to get their hands on enough empty boxes, many of which were still stranded in the U.S. because of all the canceled trips at the beginning of the pandemic. More importantly, processing containers here has been taking longer because of all the disruptions and inefficiencies brought about by the pandemic. Containers have been piling up at dockyards, and trains and trucks have struggled to get them out fast enough.

"The pandemic has exacerbated longstanding problems with the nation's supply chain, not just at the ports but in the warehouses, distribution centers, railroads, and other places that need to run smoothly in order for Longshore workers to move cargo off of the ships," says Cameron Williams. He's an official at the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dock workers, primarily on the West Coast. Dock workers have been working through the pandemic to handle the increased cargo volume, he says, and at least 17 ILWU workers lost their lives to COVID-19. "We continue to work hard and break records month after month to clear the cargo as quickly as the supply chain allows," Williams says.

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1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

Sounds good!  Keep it going!  :happyanim:

FTR, I usually have @donkpow give me the "executive" overview.  I don't have time for actual reading.

Ok, bottom line is the pandemic shut down shipping. It rebounded with a vengeance creating a clogged shipping system. Until it gets caught up, there will be delays in shipping.

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5 minutes ago, denniS said:

Ok, bottom line is the pandemic shut down shipping. It rebounded with a vengeance creating a clogged shipping system. Until it gets caught up, there will be delays in shipping.

In a related topic, I see the price of lumber is dropping like a rock.

 

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1 hour ago, denniS said:

Ok, bottom line is the pandemic shut down shipping. It rebounded with a vengeance creating a clogged shipping system. Until it gets caught up, there will be delays in shipping.

I bet it doesn't help that the Great Lakes are frozen and off limits to shipping for 90% of the year or so!

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3 hours ago, denniS said:

Ok, bottom line is the pandemic shut down shipping. It rebounded with a vengeance creating a clogged shipping system. Until it gets caught up, there will be delays in shipping.

Wow.  Interesting. You should write a more detailed article about that

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4 hours ago, denniS said:

Ok, bottom line is the pandemic shut down _________ (fill in the blank). It rebounded with a vengeance creating a clogged system. Until it gets caught up, there will be delays.

There I fixed it for just about everything.     computer chips, cars, lumber, etc... 

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The Port of Baltimore, the USA's 8th largest by tonnage, 7th by dollar value, hasn't had many delays except those caused by ships late arriving due to other ports, the Suez Canal blockage, etc.  It handles much fewer containers than L.A., etc. but handles lots of automobiles and other imports.

The big complaint at the Port of Baltimore is the long waits by truck drivers to get their rigs loaded.

 

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I stopped in at my LBS today and they had seven adult bikes in the showroom all ready to go. I asked them if those were for sale and they said sold a long time ago and on back order. They just put them together today and they are on display until the customer picks them up.

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There have been more container ship lineups at Port of VAncouver BC.  Been going on for past half yr.  Vancouver is CAnada's only major west coast international shipping port.  I'm not sure about Prince Rupert how different it is but alot less roads run to there.  One would need to look a freight rail lines if they go there.

The other international Canadian shipping port is on the eastern coast: Halifax.

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