Beginning November 16th, a new process for containerships bound for the nation’s two busiest container ports will have ships waiting at least 150 miles from shore, rather than in anchorages and loitering areas closer to the coast.
The new process was designed to improve safety and air quality off of Southern California while also “dramatically reducing” the number of backlogged ships at anchor close to shore near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. It was developed by a working group of maritime industry stakeholders including Pacific Maritime Association, Pacific Merchant Marine Shipping Association and Marine Exchange of Southern California, a Coast Guard affiliated organization that manages vessel traffic services (VTS) for the region, as well as others.
