The Port of Oakland has called on shipping lines to reroute cargo to the port to help drive vessels away from the ongoing congestion issue on the West, Gulf and East Coast of the US.
The port has reiterated that it is congestion-free and urged the restoration of shipping services that have bypassed the region since summer 2021.
“There’s no congestion at the Oakland seaport and we’re ready for more business,” said Bryan Brandes, Director of the Port of Oakland. “We need ocean carriers to reinstate services in order to stabilise the supply chain, and our import and export partners echo this sentiment.”
The call comes as ports across the country have reported crippling delays: this is especially abundant in southern California as it was reported on 19 October that 100 vessels were waiting in the water outside of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
According to a statement from the port, only 54 vessels stopped in Oakland last month, the lowest total it has seen since 2015, as a result, import volume declined 13% from September 2020 and exports declined 18%.
The port expects service restoration to begin in November 2021 as supply chain congestion continues to grind in other ports across the US.
“We should see vessel calls and cargo volume recover in October and November 2021,” Brandes continued. “We have the capacity in Oakland that needs to be put to use to help shore up the supply chain and support our economy.”
Some services have already started to recognise the value of Oakland as Ocean Network Express (ONE) has brought its PS5 service back to the port.
Announced in October 2021, the service which connects the US West Coast to ports in Tokyo and China will dock at Oakland again as of 13 November 2021 after it was initially cut from the route in 2019.
