Congestion eases at some of the largest West Coast ports

LOS ANGELES -- The turnaround time for container ships at the West Coast's largest ports has returned to normal after a month of congestion and delays following the shutdown of 29 major Pacific ports, officials said.

Nearly 200 vessels were stranded outside West Coast ports during a 10-day lockout of dockworkers, which was ended by a federal injunction Oct. 9. At the time, industry experts estimated it would take at least six weeks to get through the backlog.

But officials in the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Puget Sound, which includes Seattle and Tacoma, said long lines have vanished.

"We're now declaring ourselves at the high end of normal," said Dick McKenna of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Marine Exchange, an industry cooperative that monitors ship movements.

Although the return to normal was welcomed, McKenna said it's only because the number of ships entering the ports are down. Typically the two ports receive about eight container ships a day, but in recent weeks the average has been about 3 1/2, he said.

It's likely the drop is temporary and traffic will return to typical levels in coming weeks as shipping lines resume normal rotations, McKenna said.

A federal mediator has called both sides back to the bargaining table after a weeklong break from negotiations. A tentative agreement was reached this month on the issue of computer technology that would make hundreds of union jobs obsolete, but pension, wages and the union's arbitration system remain unsettled.

The union represents 10,500 dockworkers, who handle about $300 billion in merchandise moving through the ports each year.