Los Angeles ports are slowly chipping away at their ship backlog

Ship congestion outside the busiest U.S. gateway for trade with Asia eased over the past week, with the number of container vessels waiting to enter the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach staying below 20 for five straight days.

A total of 18 container ships were anchored awaiting entry into L.A.-Long Beach in Southern California, as of Sunday, compared with 20 a week earlier, according to officials who monitor marine traffic in San Pedro Bay.

Excluding a day in late January when several ships left their anchorages to ride out a storm offshore, that’s around the lowest level since mid-December.

Another 15 container carriers are scheduled to arrive over the next three days, with 14 of those expected to drop anchor and join the queue.

The average wait for berth space was 7.7 days, down from 8 days two weeks earlier, according to the L.A. port.