Record 100 ships waiting offshore at LA ports with cargo

Ships waiting to unload from NASA.jpg — An image from space of the Los Angeles port crisis, taken on Oct. 10, 2021.

The logjam of cargo, container, and tanker ships trying to access Long Beach and Los Angeles ports has hit a record of 100 vessels as of Monday evening. Another 45 are expected to arrive in the next three days.

A view of the vessels from space looks like matchsticks scattered around the Southern California coastline, as ship captains pick their spot to spend the next week or longer waiting for a summons to dock. The ships are scattered along the shoreline for at least 20 miles.