“I was on a flight back from SFO to LAX on February 9th and we flew over the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach before turning in to land at the airport,” writes photographer Mike Kelley, but the scene below his aircraft was unlike anything he had ever witnessed.
As a professional photographer, he had seen the port from the air from time to time, and at the most, he says he would notice 4 to 5 ships at anchor.
“I had heard that there was a backup of ships waiting to get into the harbor, but to see 35 to 40 ships waiting to get in, fully-loaded with containers, was wild to me.”
The back-up is due to a highly public fight between terminal operators and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union who are accused of orchestrating work slowdowns at the ports to gain leverage in contract negotiations that have dragged on for nine months.
As soon as he landed, Mike phoned his pilot, grabbed his camera bag and was soon back in the air aboard a Robinson R44 light helicopter.
Why? Because shipping is cool.
“I’m rather enamored with all sorts of heavy industry,” writes Kelley, who also happens to be an avid gCaptain reader.
“From aviation, shipping, logistics, etc – I’ve always had an interest in how we move people, goods, and ideas around the world. To me, it’s one of mankind’s most amazing achievements. Not only the engineering behind it all, but all of the planning, networking, and logic involved to get all of these incredibly complex moving parts to work together (hopefully!) seamlessly.
This irregular bit of operations has repercussions far wider than most think, and these pictures are my attempts at showing that. Ships from all over the world, with all sorts of cargoes, just waiting to get into port.”
Tools used: Canon 5d Mark III cameras with 70-200mm 2.8 and 24-70 F4 lenses.
By David Lawder (Reuters) – The catastrophic bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic is unlikely to trigger a major new U.S. supply chain crisis or spike goods prices, due...
California’s San Pedro Bay ports have experienced one of their busiest February’s on record, continuing to outpace expectations as U.S. imports surge. The Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest...
By Harold Isaac PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The U.N. children’s agency said on Saturday one of its aid containers at Haiti’s main port, stocked with “essential items for maternal, neonatal and child survival,” was...
March 17, 2024
Total Views: 2325
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.