Port of Long Beach chief shares his vision

The tired cliché of “Perfect Storm,” is probably lost on East Coast shippers now weathering fierce winter winds and snow, but the expression still has currency on the Pacific Rim.

The metaphor was invoked again yesterday by Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup, who described recent challenges he’s had to confront in his first year at the helm.

“Congestion is the single toughest issue we face,” Slangerup declared in his “State of the Port” address. “And if we don’t fix it immediately, we will drive business away permanently.”

He noted the reasons things have slowed down on the docks: Bigger ships, bigger alliances, chassis shortages, loading procedures, rail car shortages and on-going labor negotiations.

At the same time, however, he unveiled ambitious plans for congestion-beating smart systems for cargo movement and an all-out push to achieve energy resilience for port operations with wind turbines, solar cells and other clean technologies.

Appointed just last July, Slangerup said the port is making strides in its efforts to compete with other seaports by modernizing terminals, roadways, bridges and railways, with its $4 billion capital improvement program this decade. The first phase of the $1.3 billion Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment project will be completed this summer and port tenant Long Beach Container Terminal and its parent company Orient Overseas Container Line will begin operations this fall, increasing overall port container capacity by 10 percent, while continuing to reduce air pollution with the terminal’s near zero-emissions operations.

“We have a choice,” Slangerup said. “We can watch our business go elsewhere, or we can come together to change the way our supply chain works by using the latest information technology to efficiently move containers from origin, through the ports, aboard trucks and trains, and to their destination.”

The “storm watch” is over, say industry analysts, and now is time for all West Coast ports to move forward on their long-term strategic planning.