Fewer ships are anchoring at the Port of Los Angeles, but it doesn’t mean the supply chain is healing

The container ships stuck in San Pedro Bay, off the coast of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, have become a potent symbol of a broken supply chain. But in mid-November, there appeared to be a remarkable drop in the number of ships in the logjam at the busiest container ports in the US.

On Nov. 16, there were 86 ships in San Pedro Bay. But by Nov. 22, there were just 60, a 30% drop. (Before the supply chain crisis, there were few, if any, ships anchored off the ports.) President Joe Biden had recently announced government intervention that would allow the Port of LA to run for 24 hours, and the ports had instituted a fine to discourage containers lingering on the docks.

This seemed to many, including the executive director of the Port of Long Beach, a sign that what they were doing to fix the supply chain is working.

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