On Tuesday, November 30, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka declared that there were 46 boats stationed off the shores of California's Long Beach and Los Angeles ports - a marked reduction of over 100 earlier in the month.
According to data presented by ship-tracking website MarineTraffic, there are currently almost 100 cargo ships waiting to dock at the two popular ports - which have seen unprecedented bottlenecks throughout the US' current supply chain crisis.
What's more, many of these ships have been remaining in the Pacific since October, data reveals, leaving hundreds of sailors stranded at sea as they wait to be allowed on dry land.
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The inconsistency in the number of ships derives from a new policy lately applied by shipping trade groups that encouraged incoming vessels to wait out in the open ocean amid these traffic jams - instead of at the backed-up ports.
The shift in policy declared on November 16 encourages boats traversing the Pacific, often hailing from Asia, to sit 150 miles offshore - rather than the predesignated distance of 40 miles - as they wait to unload their precious cargo, containing billions of dollars of toys, clothing, electronics, vehicles, and furniture meant for consumers across the country.
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In the meantime, boats traveling north or south along the crowded coast were asked to sit no less than 50 miles out.
The new queueing system, announced by the Marine Exchange of Southern California, an organization that monitors ship arrivals at the two ports, will enable incoming vessels to obtain a spot to pull into berth before entering the former 40-mile zone where ships waited to unload their cargo beforehand.
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Immediately after the new system was published, throughout which time there were 86 ships lying in wait in the scenic waters of San Pedro Bay, the number of backlogged boats witnessed a striking drop to only 60 - a 30 percent reduction - in less than a week.
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The next week and half saw an additional drop of 16 more ships, data compiled by the Marine Exchange shows - although the ships docked outside the aforementioned 40-mile zone were not counted.
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Officials then insisted last week that the numbers of ships decreased even further, to the 46 published last week by Seroka - choosing to disregard dozens of ships stationed farther offshore.
Seroka made sure to emphasize those statistics on Tuesday to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who visited the port complex amid the continuous supply chain crunch.
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