Night operations at congestion-hit US West Coast ports Los Angeles and Long Beach will be suspended as talks on new contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) hit another hurdle.
Namely, negotiators for shipping lines and terminal operators at 29 ports on theWest Coast on Tuesday said they would no longer assign crews to load and unload cargo ships overnight at the docks of the said two ports, writes Reuters.
PMA claims that the US West Coast port operations are approaching complete gridlock which may result in shutdown of ports.
Namely, vessels have been forced to anchor due to slow vessel turn times in the ports resulting in growing backlog of anchored vessels in Seattle/Tacoma, Oakland and Los Angeles/Long Beach.
The congestion troubles have seen member lines of the Oceania Vessel Sharing Agreement (OVSA) reveal plans to suspend Oakland port call to improve the reliability of their US West Coast – Australasia Loop 2 (WAN) Service.
Ten-to-fifteen ships are anchored in San Francisco Bay daily awaiting berths at Oakland marine terminals.
Last week, PMA and ILWU agreed to outside intervention in the form of a federal mediator .
Since the mediator joined the talks, no further agreements have been reached.
World Maritime News Staff