The decision by French ocean carrier CMA CGM to make the Port of Oakland its first port of call in a new service from Asia is a reflection of importers and exporters developing new markets closer to their customers: “First-call status demonstrates the market is viewing the Port of Oakland more strategically which will attract increased cargo volumes,” says GSC Logistics Harbor Trucking President Dave Arsenault.

CMA CGM First Port Of Call

In an interview, Arsenault who took over as GSC president in January, told AJOT: “We’re already hearing from customers who are requesting to expand our existing partnerships in order to accommodate increased cargo volumes scheduled to arrive on those ships.”

Arsenault spent more than a decade with Charlotte, NC-based Sea-Land Service and also served as president and chief executive officer of Hyundai Merchant Marine (America).

GSC Logistics said it transported an all-time record number of containers last year from ports in Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma. It anticipates significant growth in 2021, indicating that trade dynamics favor its home market in Northern California.

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Ed Denike, president SSA Containers, said that ocean carriers tell him that vessel congestion at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is likely to continue until March.

Denike, who spoke to the Propeller Club of Northern California via Zoom on January 12th, explained that congestion delays have seen as many as 40 ships waiting to be unloaded that amounts to a 7-8 wait per vessel.

Causes of Congestion

The primary reason is the large increase in container ships arriving at the two Southern California ports: “There has been an unprecedented increase in container ship traffic going to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.”

The delays and back-ups of ships waiting to enter the two ports comes at a time when there has been a 10% reduction in longshore workers showing up for work related to the COVID virus and a parallel delay unloading import containers at California warehouses due to a reduction of workers also related to the virus.

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The second day of the Storms, Flooding & Sea Level Defense 2020 conference featured sea level defense strategies being developed by ports from New York/ New Jersey,  Hawaii, Washington, California and Rotterdam.

The conference was produced by the Propeller Club of Northern California and the Society of American Military Engineers and took place virtually on November 19th, 2020.

The Port of New Orleans discussed its plans on the first day of the conference.

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