The Port of Los Angeles announced this week it will begin construction this summer on a two-year, $127 million project to improve the marine terminal operated by Yusen Terminals, so that it can more efficiently handle larger vessels.
West Coast marine terminals’ inability to handle larger vessels was one of the main contributors to port congestion that wracked supply chains in late 2014 and early 2015. The increased scale in which larger vessels are being deployed on the trans-Pacific trade lane is relentless.
The average size of container ships calling the U.S. West Coast grew from those able to handle 4,682 twenty-foot equivalent units in 2009 to 5,780 TEUs in 2014, according to IHS Maritime & Research. The average vessel calling on the coast this year is expected to be about 6,000 TEUs.