b'FeBRuaRy 8 - 21, 2021NOrth AmericAs trANsPOrtAtiON & LOGisticsNewsPAPer 21ACL AJOT_SailSchedule_2020_ACL2/27/209:33 AMPage 1Ports of Los Angeles andOLong Beach urge CA to fast track ONNEESSHHIIPPvaccines for dockworkersBy Stas Margonanis, AJOT C onCo nttaaiinneerrss,,RROORROO,,BBrreeaakkbbuullkkCCaarrggooOfficialsatthePortsofCOVID-19casesofILWU LosAngelesandLongBeachmembers at the San Pedro Bay are urging California GovernorPort Complex. There have also Gavin Newsom to give prioritybeen 1,080 exposures.to vaccinating longshore work- The ILWU locals letter has ersagainsttheCOVIDvirusprompted both the Ports of Long so as to relieve congestion andBeach and Los Angeles to renew delays at the two ports caused intheir appeal to California Gover-part by a shortage of longshorenor Gavin Newsom to expedite workers who have been infected. vaccines to longshore workers.EdDenike,presidentSSA Containers,toldthePropellern eed toW oRKQ uIcKlyRORO Customer ServiceClub of Northern California onNoelHacegaba,deputyA SERVICE AL1 SERVICE AL2 SERVICE 877-918-7676January 12th that current delaysexecutive director Port of LongCuto Friday Cuto Thursday Cuto Monday Export Customer Serviceand back-ups of as many as 45Beach,toldAJOTthatCali- FROM NEW YORK LOLO RORO LOLO LOLO 800-225-1235ships waiting to enter the Portsfornianeedstomovequickly:TO Transit Time Transit Time Transit Time Transit Time Export Documentation of Los Angeles and Long BeachThe congestion and disruptionsANTWERP 1620 18888-802-0401come at a time when there hasat the Ports of Long Beach andDUBLIN 12Import Customer ServiceBELFAST 13 beena10%reductioninlong- Los Angeles argue for providingGTEBORG 21888-802-0403shoreworkersshowingupforvaccines to these essential work- HAMBURG 13 17 15 22 Logisticswork related to the COVID virus. ers as soon as possible. WithoutLE HAVRE17 866-821-7449Denike noted that the virusthe vaccines, we face continuedLIVERPOOL 9 13 Credit & Collectionsseems to be causing a loss ofdisruptionsincargo-handlingLONDON GATEWAY20 19 888-225-7747around 700 longshoremen show- thatisdisruptingournationalROTTERDAM11 20ing up for work per day, whichsupplychainandourinterna-is about 10% of the workforce,tional trade. Providing a vaccine echoing the 694 cases reportedas soon as possible is critical. Biggest gateway for US imports bytheInternational LongshoreGeneSeroka,executive and Warehouse Union (ILWU). directorPortofLosAngeles, Tohelpaddresstheprob- agreed and told AJOT: havehit by record ship bottlenecklem, Denike said, the ILWU andOurdockworkers the container terminal operatorsbeen on the job every day since have agreed to institute tempera- the emergency orders were putShip congestion around the ports of Los Ange- ditions. Earlier this week strong winds and 17-foot ture checks at the gates of thein place last March. We need toles and Long Beach hit an unprecedented level,(5.2-meter)swellspromptedseveralvesselsto terminals before workers enter. get them vaccinated as soon asworsening the bottleneck at the busiest gatewayhoist anchor and seek safety away from shore.Denike is hoping the termi- possible. for U.S. imports. We do not currently anticipate the storm will nals will work out a more effi- The ILWU and PMA haveArecord38containershipsareawaitingbe bad enough for ships at anchor to go to sea for cient temperature check processworkedtogethertoputsafetyberth space36 at anchor and two more that werestorm avoidance, but were ready to do so if any ship withtheILWU.Hebelievesprecautionsinplace,includ- directed to wait in designated areas at sea untilcaptains decide to do that, Kip Louttit, executive temperaturechecksshouldbeingdesignatedcleaningbreaks,anchorages are available, the Marine Exchange ofdirector of the marine exchange, said in the note.doneattheILWUhiringhallregular testing and following allSouthern California said in a note. Its the first time beforetheworkersaredis- county health protocols. All stepssince2004thatso-calleddriftzoneshavebeenG ettInGW oRse patched. This way workers dontfrom Los Angeles County healthused to manage traffic into the neighboring ports. For the queued ships, the wait appears to range go to the container terminal toservices are being followed. This is a problem which does not have a short- from several days to nearly two weeks. The ship get tested only to find they haveAdditionally,thePortofterm fix, said Lars Jensen, chief executive officerthats first in line to move into berth arrived on a fever and then find they cannotLos Angeles has assisted donat- of SeaIntelligence Consulting in Copenhagen. Jan. 16, according to the marine exchanges latest go to work. ingmasks,sanitizerandotherJust how long it lasts hinges on whether therecords. More than a dozen container carriers are safety products. carriers maintain scheduled sailings to the U.S. orscheduled to turn up in the next three days.IlWu l etteR topma About700longshoremencancel some trips in coming weeks. The best-caseShips are piling up outside Los Angeles and InaJanuary18thlettertoandwomenhavetestedposi- scenario to relieve the pressure: a seasonal declineother major U.S. ports as American companies try the Pacific Maritime Associationtive for the COVID-19 virus outin shipments from Asia after Chinese New Year intorestockwarehousesandconsumerslacking (PMA), the presidents of ILWUof a total pool of approximatelymid-February. travel and other entertainment options during the locals 13, 63 and 94 represent- 15,000 (including casuals). ThereThis will dampen the inwards flow of goodspandemicbuy more products for their homes.ing workers at the Ports of Longhas been a significant uptick inby the end of February and give some breathingCompounding the logjams are issues on land BeachandLosAngelescom- cases since Thanksgiving. Thereroom to clear the backlogbut that clearing willlike sick longshoremen, social-distancing restric-plained that Southern Californiahave been spot shortages of laborstill take some time, Jensen said. tions for those who are working, and shortages of container terminals are not fullyonthedocksinrecentweeks,equipment and truckers to move the containers.reporting the number of COVIDwith the surge of cargo also play- R emembeRInGp eaKc hIna CompaniesincludingSwedensIkeahave casestoLosAngelespublicing a significant factor. Southern Californias main port complex hasalertedcustomerstopotentialdisruptionsfrom health authorities and that insuf- BothSerokaandPortofmanaged through gridlock before, most recently anglobal transport delays. Michigan-based appliance ficient measures are being takenLongBeachExecutiveDirec- episode caused by a labor dispute in 2015. The portmaker Whirlpool Corp. is paying more for faster to protect longshore workers: torMarioCorderohaveurgedinfrastructure also threatened to be overwhelmedoptions like air cargo to get its components and Ourmembers,essen- that California Governor Gavinin 2004 whenthree years after China joined theproducts on time. tialworkerswhohaveworkedNewsomfast-trackprovidingWorld Trade Organizationdozens of ships laden throughoutthepandemic,arevaccines to longshore and harborwith Chinese goods also proved a challenge.being exposed and infected withworkers as soon as possible. The main difference now is cargo ships are(RESETcontinued from page 7)the virus at workplaces that are notSeroka explained: Back ineven bigger and take longer to unload, and Covid- Despite this, many trade analysts believe Biden following proper infection controlDecember,Ico-signedaletter19 presents a host of workplace challenges on thewill be loathed to lift the tariffs. Theres a domes-protocols.Inturn,theyarethenwithotherindustryleaderswaterfront. tic constituency in support of the steel tariffs and exposing their families to the virusdirectedto(California)Gover- ThevesselsfloatingoffLosAngeleshavetheyre likely to remain under the Biden adminis-when they return home from work.norNewsomaskingtoelevatecapacity to be carrying almost 300,000 containerstration, though theres lukewarm to negligible sup-Further, without accurate data onour longshore workers to Phasemeasured by 20-foot equivalent units, according toport for aluminum, mostly because of the way its our members cases, health depart- One B, Tier One. We want that tothe marine exchanges list. L.A. says its expectingaffected parts of the U.S. supply chain, said Miller. ments risk not accurately prioritiz- happen immediately. Since then,to handle 155,000 inbound containers next week,Protecting the steel industry and US manu-ing our workforce for access to thewe have been in regular contact80% more than a year ago, and Long Beach esti- facturingisimportanttothisadministration, COVID-19 vaccine. with county and state officials,mates taking in just under 100,000. added Rabinowitz. I do think that there will be ThelettergoesontosayincludingCaliforniaSecretaryOn top of the sheer volume of the loaded ves- a country by country review and perhaps we see that as of January 17th, thereof Labor Julie Su trying to getsels, port authorities are facing another round ofsome of those being reversed, maybe with Euro-havebeen694confirmedthis done. inclement weather that could make for choppy con- pean countries, for example.'