How Railroads Were Key to Port Development and are Central to the Future

Ports and sustainability was the topic of a well-attended discussion at the Long Beach Aquarium’s Aquatic Academy on Nov. 10.  The second session is scheduled for November 17, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m., and is open to the public.

This topic is particularly relevant now, given the recent large-scale backlog of ships waiting to unload cargo and the inability to solve the problem in the short term despite 24/7 port operations.

Featured speakers were Dr. James Fawcett, director of the USC Sea Grant program and Capt. Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine exchange San Pedro.

To provide an idea of why the backup exists with up to 100 ships waiting, 35 of them ‘loitering’ (drifting without mooring) farther out west of Catalina beyond all of the 55 stationary moorings, Marine Exchange Director Capt. Louttit explained that one large container ship in the port now is 200 feet wide 1200 feet long and contains 17,000 containers.

“It takes 8500 trucks to unload this one ship or 4250 railcars,” Capt. Louttit said.  “The backup is further complicated by a system designed for, just-in-time delivery, with minimal wait time for ships to enter the port, and begin the unloading and loading process which takes up to two weeks.”

The 35 private companies that have port leases serve to inhibit coordination and planning.

“Central to the development of the ports in LA and Long Beach where the railroads that turned the mudflats into massive ports, ultimately now combined to be the ninth-largest port in terms of cargo in the world.” They did this through venture capital, land grants, and money from the government.

“Originally a mudflat, Phineas Banning in 1871 dug a channel for sailing ships up into Wilmington.  Later, Los Angeles Times owner Otis Chandler led the effort to build the breakwater in San Pedro in 1899 and San Pedro and Wilmington became part of LA proper in 1909; LA would operate the port from then on.” continued Dr. Fawcett.

The Port of Long Beach began with the building of the breakwater in 1949 and is differentiated from LA because it is privately owned.  Private capitalists with government support forcibly removed the sizeable Japanese community of fishermen and fisherwomen living west of Terminal Island; razing their homes and stores, sending them to the concentration camps, clearing the way for expanding the port.

Dr. Fawcett pointed out six reasons for the success of both ports.

1. The railroads and the El Cajon Pass enabled them to easily transport freight and passengers eastward.
2. World War II shipbuilding and the great expansion of the labor force.
3. Population growth of LA County 107,000 in 1900 to 10 million in 2020.
4. Weather favorable to the year-round operation of the ports and railroads.
5. Interport competition, the LA and Long Beach ports cannot legally collaborate, but compete for lessees
6. Port expansion capabilities.

He ended his presentation by talking about the air quality problems caused by soot and other airborne carbon particulates, which increases breathing problems and asthma — a battle still being fought by community activists such as Communities for a Better Environment.

“We have no solution at the present time for the last three pollutants except through reducing ship speed, electrification of the port, and positioning ships further out of the harbor while awaiting unloading,” Dr. Fawcett said.

Marine Exchange Executive Director Capt. Kip Louttit, likened the operation of ship traffic to the control tower at an airport.

The Marine Exchange tracks more than  27,000 vessels a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week from Morro Bay to the Mexican border, 100 miles out. Louttut said the Marine Exchange grew out of the 1994 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster and the recognition that greater organization and control of commercial shipping was needed in Southern California to prevent further environmental catastrophes.

“The Exchange’s task is to carry out the scheduling of inbound and departing ships and provide safety for commercial ships,” Louttit said. “There have fortunately been no groundings nor collisions through the use of the massive sensor array, although there have been some whale strikes, which we are trying to avoid by changing the shipping routes.”

Louttit further noted that “Ship speed is controlled and those traveling under 12 knots receive a 25% reduction in port fees, which are generally $250 per barge and $1400 per container ship.”

The cost of shipping a TEU across the Pacific is now $20,000.

Louttit pointed out that one in nine jobs in LA and Long Beach harbor related and that 50% of the seaborne cargo entering the US comes thru these ports.  Recent data confirms 1 million cruise ship passengers, 500,000 autos, 18 million TEU’s (20’ shipping containers), which comprise 47% of all traffic.  The two harbors combined are responsible for 4 million jobs nationwide.

Attending the meeting were local harbor residents, teachers, and students.  David Trumbull is a high school student at the Sato Academy in Long Beach is interested in an engineering career. He spoke to this reporter saying “I came for the history of the railroads and I really enjoyed the railroad history, the information on ships and shipping and the ports. It was a great event for engineering or biology students.”

The second Aquatic Academy program on November 17 will address major environmental issues facing the ports.