"Get the Drift?"

Gridlock at West Coast ports is at an all-time high. The pressure is mounting as the ILWU and PMA continue to battle through the contract negotiations with no forseeable progress. Recently, the PMA released a statement blaming the ILWU for exerting a series of slowdowns to pressure employers at the bargaining table. They also defended their own involvement as simply trying to counter the backlog of cargo that has continued to grow on the West Coast. To read the full statement by the PMA, visit http://www.ajot.com/news/pma-comments-on-continued-slow-downs-at-west-co....

To put the situation into perspective, the vessels at anchor Jan 22nd, waiting to berth at LA/LB numbered in the high teens.Numerous other vessels, further out in the Pacific, are “drifting” their way to LA/LB, in no hurry as they know they will have to wait upon arrival. “Drifting” is now in our vocabulary as another steamship line term, an even slower method of movement than “slow-steaming”.

In sum, the congestion does not look to be going away any time soon.