PACIFIC RIM TRADE : Los Angeles and Long Beach : PORTS
A modern port is a maze of wharfs handling different types of ships and cargo, with computers doing more and more of the work. Los Angeles and Long Beach are among the world’s biggest container ports. Sitting side by side, they compete for traffic.
Container Ships Containers are standard-sized aluminum boxes, either 20 or 40 feet long by 8 feet by 8 feet. They are loaded with goods--everything from perfume to electronic products--and then stacked directly onto trucks or railroad cars and moved to ports.
At the port, giant cranes moving along rails on the docks hoist the containers and then lowers them one upon the other onto the ship. A clerk, working with a computer mockup of the hull, devises a plan for loading.
Numbered and computer chip on each container help track contents, destination and shipper.
Oil Tankers
The first ocean-going tanker was launched in 1866. Today, oil supertankers may measure more than 1,300 feet long and carry more than 500,000 short tons of oil.
Although most tankers carry oil, some haul cleaning fluids, fruit juices, vegetable oils, wines and other liquids. These are loaded and unloaded in a slightly different manner than is the oil tanker shown here.
Hydraulically controlled loading arms on the dock are levered into place, connecting to pipelines on the ship. Oil is then pumped into or out of the tanks.
Los Angeles Vs. Long Beach Total cargo value, 1992 (in billions) Los Angeles: $63.0 Long Beach: $50.9 * Total cargo tonnage, 1992 (in millions) Los Angeles: 23.4 Long Beach: 29.2
Los Angeles Port Imports Total tonnage for 1992: 12.4 million * Top products, in millions of tons Crude petroleum: 1.4 Petroleum oils: 1.1 Automobile parts: .603 Bananas: .602 Automobiles: .369 * Nations, % of total Japan: 17.5 Taiwan: 14.6 China: 12.3 Ecuador and Venezuela: 13.7 Others: 41.9
Los Angeles Port Exports Total tonnage for 1992: 11.0 million * Top products, in millions of tons * Coal: 1.6 Petroleum oils (refined): 1.3 Scrap iron: .863 Scrap paper: .695 Petroleum coke: .692 * Nations, % of total Japan: 31.5 Taiwan: 13.5 South Korea: 8.4 Hong Kong and Australia: 12.0 Others: 34.6 * Note: All tonnage figures are in short tons (2,000 pounds). SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia; Worldport L.A.: West Coast International Trade Market Share Analysis
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
