US imports are stranded on ships floating just outside Los Angeles

The giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for six days was freed on Monday, but another bottleneck in the supply chain remains, this one in southern California.

As of Monday morning, 24 container ships – with a combined maximum carrying capacity nearly 10 times that of the newly freed ship – were anchored offshore while waiting to find space in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. , according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. , which monitors ships and directs maritime traffic.

Ships carry tens of thousands of boxes containing millions of dollars worth of washing machines, medical equipment, consumer electronics and other products that make up global ocean trade, all idling in the waters at the view of blocked platforms. with even more containers.

One was on his 12th day of waiting in the seemingly endless queue. And the ships keep coming.

Safeguards began to build up late last year, as retailers and manufacturers attempted to replenish stocks that were depleted in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.