News / West coast port congestion cost container shipping lines $150m in the final quarter

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Drewry estimates that transpacific container shipping lines calling at congested US west coast ports in Q4 2014 took an estimated $150m hit in extra costs.

The additional expense covers factors including waiting time at anchor, the need to charter additional ships, extended time in port, export loads cancelled and lost backhaul revenue and the inability to reposition containers back to the demand regions of Asia.

Using data extracted from the Southern California Marine Exchange for containerships calling at Los Angeles and Long ...