L.A./Long Beach vessel traffic recovers from 2002 dip

L.A./Long Beach vessel traffic recovers from 2002 dip    Commercial vessel arrivals at Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor complex showed a 6-percent increase to 5,696 in 2003, when compared to 2002. The    2003 figure was slightly above the 2001 figure of 5,662 arrivals.
   Most of the gain for 2003 is linked to the non-recurrence of the labor-management waterfront dispute of 2002, when there was a sharp decline in vessel arrivals at the end of that year, said the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which recorded these statistics.
   The arrivals include all types of commercial vessels. The fastest-growing category was cargo barges, up 35 percent in 2003, to 356 arrivals. The largest category was containerships, up 10 percent with 3,005 arrivals in 2003, followed by tankers with 719 arrivals, down 11 percent, and dry bulk vessels with 380 arrivals, down 21 percent.
   The Marine Exchange noted that 1,393 ships, or 26 percent of the commercial arrivals in 2003, were vessels flying the Panama flag, the largest flag nationality.
   Ship arrival for the second-largest flag nationality, the U.S., grew 8 percent, to 901 arrivals.
   Of the 5,696 vessel arrivals for 2003, the port of Long Beach handled 3,036 and the port of Los Angeles 2,660.