Port of Oakland calls severely impacted by LA/LB congestion

BlueWater Reporting shows 15 of 25 services have some sort of schedule disruption to Oakland, reflecting how delays in Los Angeles and Long Beach have impacted carrier schedules.    The Port of Oakland has been severely impacted by congestion at the Southern California ports, according to data from the ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting.
   “As of Jan. 26, schedules for 15 out of 25 services in BlueWater calling the Port of Oakland show some sort of schedule disruption regarding Oakland either by showing temporary skips for voyages or omitting the port altogether for the foreseeable future,” said BlueWater Reporting analyst Bessie Howard. “It appears most of these services are skipping Oakland between the last week of January through mid-February and will pick up calling Oakland again towards the end of February/beginning of March.”
   American Shipper learned last week that Oakland calls are being skipped as carriers try to make up time due to delays calling at Los Angeles and Long Beach. Operational issues at those ports has resulted in severe delays, made worse by an acrimonious standoff between unionized longshoremen and terminal operator employers.
   One shipper told American Shipper it is nearly impossible to get carriers to take bookings from Asia into Oakland, forcing discretionary cargo destined for Oakland to be rerouted to other ports, like Prince Rupert in Canada.
   According to BlueWater Reporting, transpacific G6 Alliance services SE2, SE3, PA2, CC4 and SC1 all show skips for voyages that would be coming to Oakland within the next month.
   “Some service schedules show temporary long-term omissions to Oakland, like Evergreen’s MD1/PM1, which has stopped calling Oakland and will return calling the port in early April, the CKYHE Alliance PSX, which shows a return to Oakland in early March, and the JPX operated by NYK, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd and Hanjin, which shows drops to Oakland through the end of February,” Howard said.
   “Other services, like K-Line’s CALCO-B, CKYH Alliance’s PSW/CALCO-Y and Hamburg Sud’s WCNA/Central America Service, do not show a return to Oakland after being dropped from the schedule mid-January.”
   It’s unclear which of these services have dropped Oakland due to carrier network decisions, and which have done so as a direct result of congestion in Los Angeles and Long Beach.