Ship calls up in L.A.-Long Beach, but ports still smooth

Ship calls up in L.A.-Long Beach, but ports still smooth    The Marine Exchange of Southern California, which serves as traffic control for the nation’s biggest port complex, said Friday that vessel traffic into Los Angeles and Long Beach is flowing smoothly despite an increase in calls at the two ports so far this year.
   In an update on vessel traffic in the first quarter of the year, the Marine Exchange said the average number of ships in port in March was 45 — five higher than the same month in 2005. The average in February was also marginally higher than February 2005. The Marine Exchange considers the normal range of ships, either at berth or anchored, in the ports at any one time to be 35 to 50. During the peak of the six-month congestion crisis in Southern California in the second half of 2004, more than 90 ships were docked or anchored in Los Angeles and Long Beach.