port of Los Angeles

{{About|the Port of Los Angeles|the Los Angeles–Long Beach Harbor residential areas|Los Angeles Harbor Region }}

{{Infobox port

| name = Port of Los Angeles

| image = Port of Los Angeles (2501768235).jpg

| image_size = 300px

| image_caption = Port of Los Angeles in 2008

| logo = Port of Los Angeles logo.svg

| country = United States

| location = Los Angeles, California

| coordinates = {{Coord|33|43|48|N|118|15|45|W|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}{{cite gnis |id=1702699 |name=Port of Los Angeles| access-date=2009-05-15}}

| locode = US LAX

| draft_depth = {{cvt|-53|ft}}

| opened = December 9, 1907

| arrivals = 1,867 (CY 2019)

| containervolume = {{TEU|9.3 million|first=yes}} (CY 2019)

| cargotonnage = 178 million metric revenue tons (FY 2019)

| cargovalue = $276 billion (CY 2019)

| passengertraffic = 650,010 passengers (CY 2019)

| revenue = $506 million (FY 2019)

| size = {{cvt|7500|acre|km2}}

| sizeland = {{cvt|4300|acre|km2}}

| sizewater = {{cvt|3200|acre|km2}}

| leadershiptitle = President

| leader = Jaime L. Lee

| blankdetailstitle1 = Vice President

| blankdetails1 = Edward Renwick

| blankdetailstitle2 = Commissioners

| blankdetails2 = Diane L. Middleton
Lucia Moreno-Linares
Anthony Pirozzi Jr.{{Cite web |url=https://www.portoflosangeles.org/commission/board-members |title=Board Members | Commission | Port of Los Angeles |website=www.portoflosangeles.org}}

| blankdetailstitle3 = Executive Director

| blankdetails3 = Gene SerokaLopez, Ricardo (11 June 2014) [https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gene-seroka-port-los-angeles-director-20140611-story.html "Gene Seroka named Port of Los Angeles executive director"] Los Angeles Times

| website = {{URL|https://portoflosangeles.org}}

}}

The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles. It occupies {{convert|7500|acre}} of land and water with {{convert|43|mi}} of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "America's Port", the port is located in San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro and Wilmington neighborhoods of Los Angeles, approximately {{convert|20|mi}} south of downtown.

The port has 25 cargo terminals, 82 container cranes, 8 container terminals, and {{convert|113|mi}} of on-dock rail. The port's top imports were furniture, automobile parts, apparel, footwear, and electronics. In 2019, the port's top exports were wastepaper, pet and animal feed, scrap metal and soybeans.{{Cite web |title=Facts and Figures {{!}} Statistics {{!}} Port of Los Angeles |url=https://www.portoflosangeles.org/business/statistics/facts-and-figures |access-date=2020-06-10|website=www.portoflosangeles.org}} In 2020, the port's top three trading partners were China (including Hong Kong), Japan, and Vietnam.{{Cite web |last=Port of Los Angeles |date=2020 |title=The Port of Los Angeles – Info About the Port |url=https://kentico.portoflosangeles.org/getmedia/cf9d4321-b854-40c5-ae61-f5c15e76e1c3/POLA-Infographic-2020 |website=The Port of Los Angeles}} In 2022, the port, together with the adjoining Port of Long Beach, were considered amongst the world's least efficient ports by the World Bank and IHS Markit citing union protectionism and a lack of automation.{{ r | Reuters_2021-10-20 | NPR_2022-09-11 }}

History

Image:LA-Harbor-1899.jpg|The L.A. Harbor, 1899

Image:LA-Harbor-1913.jpg|Port of Los Angeles, 1913

File:Port_of_Los_Angeles_2.png

Image:LA-port+Long-Beach1.jpg]]

File:Municipal Warehouse No. 1 (San Pedro).jpg]]

File:CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin.jpeg, the largest ship to dock at the port]]

Image:Port of LA.jpg

In 1542, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo discovered the "Bay of Smokes."Sowinski, L., Portrait of a Port, World Trade Magazine, February 2007, p. 32 The south-facing San Pedro Bay was originally a shallow mudflat, too soft to support a wharf. Visiting ships had two choices: stay far out at anchor and have their goods and passengers ferried to shore, or beach themselves. That sticky process is described in Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr., who was a crew member on an 1834 voyage that visited San Pedro Bay. Phineas Banning greatly improved shipping when he dredged the channel to Wilmington in 1871 to a depth of {{convert|10|ft|m}}. The port handled 50,000 tons of shipping that year. Banning owned a stagecoach line with routes connecting San Pedro to Salt Lake City, Utah, and Yuma, Arizona, and in 1868 he built a railroad to connect San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles, the first in the area.{{Cite magazine |last=Estrada |first=Gilbert |date=2014-01-24 |title=Brief History of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/brief-history-of-the-ports-of-los-angeles-and-long-beach |access-date=2021-01-21 |magazine=KCET |language=en}}

After Banning's death in 1885, his sons pursued their interests in promoting the port, which handled 500,000 tons of shipping in that year. The Southern Pacific Railroad and Collis P. Huntington wanted to create Port Los Angeles at Santa Monica and built the Long Wharf there in 1893. However, the Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis and U.S. Senator Stephen White pushed for federal support of the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro Bay. The Free Harbor Fight was settled when San Pedro was endorsed in 1897 by a commission headed by Rear Admiral John C. Walker (who later went on to become the chair of the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1904). With U.S. government support, breakwater construction began in 1899, and the area was annexed to Los Angeles in 1909. The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners was founded in 1907.

In 1912 the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its first major wharf at the port. During the 1920s, the port surpassed San Francisco as the West Coast's busiest seaport. In the early 1930s, a massive expansion of the port was undertaken with the construction of a breakwater three miles out and over two miles in length. In addition to the construction of this outer breakwater, an inner breakwater was built off Terminal Island with docks for seagoing ships and smaller docks built at Long Beach.[https://books.google.com/books?id=iigDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1932+plane&pg=PA30 "Big Harbor Three Miles At Sea"] Popular Science, December 1931, illustration of harbor and port improvements It was this improved harbor that hosted the sailing events for the 1932 Summer Olympics.[https://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1932/1932s.pdf 1932 Summer Olympics official report.] pp. 76, 78, 585.

During World War II, the port was primarily used for shipbuilding, employing more than 90,000 people. In 1959, Matson Navigation Company's Hawaiian Merchant delivered 20 containers to the port, beginning the port's shift to containerization.{{Cite news |last=Cuevas |first=Antonio |title=Seaport's Legacy Drives Its Future |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |pages=U6 |date=2007-12-09}} The opening of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in 1963 greatly improved access to Terminal Island and allowed increased traffic and further expansion of the port. In 1985, the port handled one million containers in a year for the first time. During the 2002 West Coast port labor lockout, the port had a large backlog of ships waiting to be unloaded at any given time. In 2000, the Pier 400 Dredging and Landfill Program, the largest such project in America, was completed. By 2013, more than half a million containers were moving through the Port every month.{{cite news |last=Chinn |first=Kay |date=15 October 2013 |title=L.A. Port Numbers Down From Last Year |url=https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2013/oct/15/l-port-numbers-down-last-year/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Business Journal |access-date=29 April 2015}}

Port district

The port district is an independent, self-supporting department of the government of the City of Los Angeles. The port is under the control of a five-member Board of Harbor Commissioners appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council, and is administered by an executive director. The port maintains an AA bond rating,{{cite press release |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/article/2014-08-13/aMvvTNczT0Lg.html |title=Fitch Rates Port of Los Angeles Harbor, CA's Rev Bonds 'AA'; Outlook Stable |publisher=Fitch Ratings |date=13 August 2014 | access-date=16 December 2014}} the highest rating attainable for self-funded ports.

{{asof|2016}}, the port had about a dozen pilots, including two chiefs. Pilots have specialized knowledge of the harbor and San Pedro Bay. They meet the ships waiting to enter the harbor and provide advice as the vessel is steered through the congested waterway to the dock.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-adv-port-pilots-snap-story.html |title=How one of L.A.'s highest-paying jobs went to the boss' son |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |first1=Jack |last1=Dolan |first2=Paul |last2=Pringle |date=June 11, 2016 |access-date=11 June 2016}}

For public safety protection inside the port and of its businesses, the Port of Los Angeles utilizes the Los Angeles Port Police for police service, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) to provide fire and EMS services, the U.S. Coast Guard for waterway security, Homeland Security to protect federal land at the port, the Los Angeles County Lifeguards to provide lifeguard services for open waters outside of the harbor, while Los Angeles City Recreation & Parks Department lifeguards patrol the inner Cabrillo Beach.

Shipping

[[File:LA port traffic.webp|thumb|300px|right|Port of LA traffic

]]

The port's container volume was {{TEU|9.3 million|first=yes}} in calendar year 2019, a 5.5% increase over 2016's record-breaking year of 8.8 million TEU. It's the most cargo moved annually by a Western Hemisphere port. The port is the busiest port in the United States by container volume, the 19th-busiest container port in the world, and the 10th-busiest worldwide when combined with the neighboring Port of Long Beach. The port is also the number-one freight gateway in the United States when ranked by the value of shipments passing through it.{{cite web |title=Top 25 U.S. Freight Gateways, Ranked by Value of Shipments: 2008 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |year=2009 |url=https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/americas_freight_transportation_gateways/2009/introduction_and_overview/html/figure_02_table.html | access-date = 2013-07-26 | archive-date = 2015-09-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091339/https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/americas_freight_transportation_gateways/2009/introduction_and_overview/html/figure_02_table.html | url-status = dead}} The port's top trading partners in 2019 were:

China/Hong Kong ($128 billion)
Japan ($89 billion)
Vietnam ($21 billion)
South Korea ($15 billion)
Taiwan ($15 billion)

The most-imported types of goods in the 2019 calendar year were, in order: furniture (579,405), automobile parts (340,546), apparel (312,655), and electronic products (209,622).

The port is served by the Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) railroad. From the PHL, intermodal railroad cars go north to Los Angeles via the Alameda Corridor.

In 2011, no American port could handle ships of the PS-class Emma Mærsk and the future Maersk Triple E class size,{{cite web|first1=Frank|last1=Pope|date=22 February 2011|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/bigger-cleaner-slower-the-new-giants-of-the-seas-s9flgqsspzw|title=Bigger, cleaner, slower – the new giants of the seas|website=The Times}}{{cite web|last1=Pope|first1=Frank|title=Bigger, cleaner, slower — the new giants of the seas|url=https://frankpope.co.uk/2011/02/22/bigger-cleaner-slower-the-new-giants-of-the-seas/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009211549/https://frankpope.co.uk/2011/02/22/bigger-cleaner-slower-the-new-giants-of-the-seas/|date=22 February 2011|archive-date=9 October 2014|access-date=6 December 2013}} the latter of which needs cranes reaching 23 rows.{{Cite news |date=2013-12-02 |title=APM Rotterdam retrofitting cranes for more EEE calls |url=https://www.longshoreshippingnews.com/2013/12/apm-rotterdam-retrofitting-cranes-for-more-eee-calls/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518073533/https://www.longshoreshippingnews.com/2013/12/apm-rotterdam-retrofitting-cranes-for-more-eee-calls/ |archive-date=2015-05-18 |access-date=2021-05-18 |website=Longshore & Shipping News}} In 2012, the port and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deepened the port's main navigational channel to {{convert|53 |feet}}, which is deep enough to accommodate the draft of the world's biggest container ships.{{cite web |title=ABS Record: Emma Maersk |url=https://www.eagle.org/safenet/record/record_vesseldetailsprinparticular?Classno=06151181 |publisher=American Bureau of Shipping |date=23 July 2009 | access-date=4 June 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130001310/https://www.eagle.org/safenet/record/record_vesseldetailsprinparticular?Classno=06151181 | archive-date=30 January 2016 | url-status=dead}}{{cite web |date=21 February 2011 |title=Largest container ship will be 16% larger and 20% less CO2and 35% more fuel efficient |url=https://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/largest-container-ship-will-be-16.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222153304/https://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/largest-container-ship-will-be-16.html |archive-date=22 February 2014 |access-date=14 August 2011 |publisher=Next Big Future}} However, Maersk had no plans in 2014 to bring those ships to America.Karen Robes Meeks. [https://www.presstelegram.com/business/20140607/ports-of-long-beach-los-angeles-invest-millions-to-accommodate-ships Ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles invest millions to accommodate ships], 2014 In 2024 the port received 3 cranes capable of servicing ships up to 18,000 TEU.{{cite web |last1=Kontos |first1=Ioanna |title=APM Terminals Pier 400 boosts efficiency with new cranes |url=https://container-news.com/apm-terminals-pier-400-boosts-efficiency-with-new-cranes/ |website=Container News |date=20 November 2024}}

Los Angeles and Long Beach ports were some of the least efficient in the world, according to a 2022 ranking by the World Bank and IHS Markit.{{Cite news|last=Baertlein|first=Lisa |date=2021-10-20|title=California ports, key to U.S. supply chain, among world's least efficient, ranking shows|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-ports-key-us-supply-chain-among-worlds-least-efficient-2021-10-20/ |access-date=2021-11-03}}{{Cite news |last=Hsu |first=Andrea |date=September 11, 2022 |title=Before the holiday season, workers at America's busiest ports are fighting the robots |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/11/1121243540/supply-chain-dockworkers-ilwu-union-workers-automation |access-date=2022-09-11 | quote=The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are consistently rated the least efficient in the world. More modern ports in the Middle East and China, where 24/7 operations are the norm, get ships in and out much faster. }}

Cruise ship terminal

File:Los Angeles World Cruise Center - Berth 91 - Norwegian Star.jpg at the World Cruise Center in October 2006]]

The {{visible anchor|World Cruise Center}}, located in San Pedro, Los Angeles, beneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge, has three passenger ship berths.{{cite web |url=https://www.portoflosangeles.org/facilities/passenger.asp |title=Cruise Passenger and Ferry Terminals |publisher=The Port of Los Angeles |access-date=21 December 2016}}

Public access investments

Image:China amp pola.jpg Alternative Maritime Power, Catalina Express high speed catamaran, and Diamond Princess docked at the World Cruise Center near the Vincent Thomas Bridge.]]

The LA Waterfront is a visitor-serving destination in the city of Los Angeles, funded and maintained by the Port of Los Angeles.{{Cite web |title=Visit the LA Waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles |url=https://www.lawaterfront.org/ |access-date=2021-05-18 |website=www.lawaterfront.org}} In 2009, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission approved the San Pedro Waterfront and Wilmington Waterfront development programs, under the LA Waterfront umbrella. The LA Waterfront consists of a series of waterfront development and community enhancement projects covering more than {{convert|400| acres}} of existing Port of Los Angeles property in both San Pedro and Wilmington. With miles of public promenade and walking paths, acres of open space and scenic views, the LA Waterfront attracts thousands of visitors annually. Remodel and reconstruction was approved by the Los Angeles City Council. Development is set to be completed in 2020. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 at a partial project cost of $90 million, paid by the developer. The San Pedro Public Market is expected to open in 2020, with demolition beginning as early as November 2016.{{cite web |date=2015-02-11 |title=Public Access Investment Plan |url=http://portoflosangeles.org/pdf/public_access_investment_plan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306004425/http://portoflosangeles.org/pdf/public_access_investment_plan.pdf |archive-date=2015-03-06 |access-date=7 May 2015 |website=portoflosangeles.org}}

The Waterfront Red Car is a currently non-operational heritage trolley line for public transit along the waterfront in San Pedro.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lawaterfront.org/attractions |title=Attractions | LA Waterfront |website=www.lawaterfront.org}} Prior to its closure in 2015, it used vintage and restored Pacific Electric Red Cars to connect the World Cruise Center, Downtown San Pedro, Ports O' Call Village, and the San Pedro Marina.{{Cite web |title=SanPedro.com: POLA Waterfront Red Car Line - with map |url=http://www.sanpedro.com/spcom/redcar.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503023244/http://www.sanpedro.com/spcom/redcar.htm |archive-date=2012-05-03 |website=sanpedro.com}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.railwaypreservation.com/page8.html |title=RailwayPreservation.com: Port of LA Waterfront Red Car Line |access-date=2015-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226115922/http://www.railwaypreservation.com/page8.html |archive-date=2011-02-26 |url-status=dead}}

Environment

Oceangoing ships visiting ports are a large source of nitrogen oxides in Southern California. Heavy-duty diesel trucks, that are also part of the freight-moving port complexes, emit exhaust with nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.{{Cite news |last=Barboza |first=Tony |date=2020-01-03 |title=Port ships are becoming L.A.'s biggest polluters. Will California force a cleanup? |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-03/port-ships-are-becoming-la-worst-polluters-regulators-plug-in |access-date=2020-08-28 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} The California Air Resources Board is working on reducing these sources of pollution that produce the nation's most polluted air smog and kill more than 3,500 Southern Californians each year.{{Cite web|last=Wright|first=Pam|date=2016-08-11|title=Thousands Die Each Year In Southern California From Air Pollution, Study Says|url=https://weather.com/science/environment/news/southern-california-air-pollution-thousands-die|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Weather.com|language=en-US}} In 2021, the South Coast Air Quality Management District required warehouses in the port which do not cut emissions of carbon and pollutants to pay fees.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-18 |title=New rule requires Southern California warehouses to clean up or pay up |url=http://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/08/new-rule-requires-southern-california-warehouses-to-clean-up-or-pay-up/ |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=Yale Climate Connections |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2021 |title=South Coast AQMD Governing Board Adopts Warehouse Indirect Source Rule |url=https://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/news-archive/2021/board-adopts-waisr-may7-2021.pdf |website=South Coast Air Quality Management District}}

The port installed the first Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) berth in 2004 and can provide up to 40 MW of grid power to two cruise ships simultaneously at both 6.6 kV and 11 kV, as well as three container terminals, reducing pollution from ship engines.Philips, Peter. [http://www.pmmonlinenews.com/2011/03/los-angeles-port-now-providing-shore.html Los Angeles Port Now Providing Shore-Side Power to Three Cruise Lines] Pacific Maritime, 1 March 2011. Accessed: 1 October 2011.

In an effort to buffer the nearby community of Wilmington from the port, in June 2011 the Wilmington Waterfront Park was opened.{{cite web |title=Wilmington Waterfront Park |url=http://www.portoflosangeles.org/recreation/wwpark.asp |publisher=Port of Los Angeles |access-date=9 August 2012}}{{cite journal |last=Landers |first=Jay |title=Los Angeles creates park to provide buffer between port, community |journal=Civil Engineering Magazine |date=July 2011 |pages=27–30}}

In 2024, the nonprofit political organization Environment California sued the Port of Los Angeles for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act, claiming the port had violated the act more that 2,000 in just the previous 5 years.{{Cite web|last=Udasin|first=Sharon|date=July 23, 2024|access-date=April 21, 2025|title=California environmentalists sue Port of Los Angeles, alleging clean water violations |url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4788520-port-of-los-angeles-environmental-lawsuit/ |work=The Hill}} In April 2025, the Port of Los Angeles settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay $1.3 million to the Rose Foundation For Communities & The Environment for projects to restore the Los Angeles Harbor and San Pedro Bay, plus a $130,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury.{{Cite web|last=Deehan|first=Laura|date=April 16, 2025|access-date=April 21, 2025|title=Environment California settles Clean Water Act lawsuit over Port of Los Angeles pollution |url=https://environmentamerica.org/california/media-center/environment-california-settles-clean-water-act-lawsuit-over-port-of-los-angeles-pollution/ |work=Environment California}}

=Clean Air Action Program=

The $2.8 million San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Program (CAAP) initiative was implemented by the Board of Harbor Commissioners in October 2002 for terminal and ship operations programs targeted at reducing polluting emissions from vessels and cargo handling equipment {{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}. To accelerate implementation of emission reductions through the use of new and cleaner-burning equipment, the port has allocated more than $52 million in additional funding for the CAAP through 2008.

As of May 2016, the Port of Los Angeles has already surpassed its initial 2023 emission goals 8 years ahead of predicted time frame. The dramatic success to reduce emissions has seen a decrease in diesel particulate matter reduce 72%, sulfur oxides by 93%, and nitrogen oxide by 22% so far. The CAAP program was updated to 3.0 after this environmental successes of the initiatives. With the recent ramification of environment goals the updates will look to reduce the emissions through efficient supply chain optimization. There has also been recent developments to increase port technologies advancement to promote the development of efficient and green port technologies. The CAAP also looks to be the lead role caretaker of fostering and improving the wildlife and ecosystem of the port.{{cite web |title=02 May Port of Los Angeles: Global Model for Sustainability & Environmental Initiatives |url=https://www.cfrrinkens.com/port-los-angeles-global-model-sustainability-environmental-initiatives/ |website=CFR Rinkens |date=2 May 2016 |access-date=28 June 2016}}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.portoflosangeles.org}}
[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf238nb21j;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items Panoramic photographs of Los Angeles Harbor, taken in 1908 and 1926], The Bancroft Library
Video series: The Port of Los Angeles: A History:

:* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYWwViivn9Q Part I - From Mudflats to Modern Port (1542-1920)]

:* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rHa2WZ30PQ Part II - Birth of an International Port (1921-1941)]

:* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJGRU1KtcsY Part III - War, Peace, and Prosperity (1941-1960)]

:* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k7-NlvMsl8 Part IV - The Past is Prologue (1960-2008)]

{{Geographic location

| Centre = Port of Los Angeles,
Terminal Island

| North = Wilmington, Los Angeles

| Northeast = Long Beach

| East = Port of Long Beach

| Southeast = Pacific Ocean

| Northwest = Harbor City, Los Angeles

| South = Pacific Ocean
Santa Catalina Island