Port Of Los Angeles, USA

The Port of Los Angeles is located in San Pedro Bay, 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. This thriving seaport not only sustains its competitive edge with record-setting cargo operations, but is also known for its groundbreaking environmental initiatives, progressive security measures, diverse recreational and educational facilities, and an emerging LA Waterfront.


The Port of Los Angeles encompasses 7,500 acres of land and water along 43 miles of waterfront. It features 25 passenger and cargo terminals, including automobile, breakbulk, container, dry and liquid bulk, and warehouse facilities that handle billions of dollars worth of cargo each year.
When measured by container throughput, the Port has consecutively ranked as the number one port in the nation for the last decade.


Amidst the backdrop of international trade and shipping, the Port of Los Angeles also boasts the bustling World Cruise Center, quaint Ports O’ Call Village, welcoming Vincent Thomas Bridge, signature Fanfare Fountains and Water Features, historic Angels Gate Lighthouse, vintage Waterfront Red Car Line, and new green space at 22nd Street Park.

With an exceptional credit record, the Port maintains an Aa2 bond rating, the highest assigned to any seaport in the United States, operating without the benefit of taxpayer support. The Port also wields tremendous economic impact, generating employment for more than 3.3 million Americans nationwide. In California alone, nearly 1 million jobs are related to trade though the Port of Los Angeles.
Complementing its busy terminal operations with green alternatives, the Port of Los Angeles remains committed to managing resources and conducting Port developments and operations in both an environmentally and fiscally responsible manner. The Port of Los Angeles is the United States' second biggest city and one of its busiest seaports. Located in Southern California on between the Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains, it is about nine kilometers west-southwest of the Port of San Diego and almost 390 nautical miles south-southeast of the Port of San Francisco. A city with many distinct neighborhoods, it is located near the famous San Andreas Fault, and earthquakes occur often. It is the seat of Los Angeles County, which is home to almost one hundred other cities. In 2005, over 3.8 million people lived in the Port of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area was home to more than 12.9 million.


The local economy of the Port of Los Angeles is gigantic, diverse, and always changing. Growing on agriculture in the early years, today the Port of Los Angeles is a center for finance and business, high-technology, fashion industries, and, of course, movies. In the late 20th Century, the Port of Los Angeles had an economic downturn that began to recover after the beginning of the 21st Century, with high-technology leading the way. Since the recent global recession, many manufacturing plants have closed, and high-paying jobs have decreased. Low-paying jobs have grown, and immigrant labor has become more important to employers in the Port of Los Angeles. There are even some sweat shops in the Port of Los Angeles area.

The Port of Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners is responsible for managing and operating the Port of Los Angeles. This five-member board is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council to serve five-year terms. The president and vice president of the Board are elected every July.
The Port of Los Angeles is located in San Pedro Bay about 30 kilometers from downtown. The Port of Los Angeles is a department of the City of Los Angeles and is operated under a State Tidelands Trust that gives municipalities jurisdiction over ports and limits activities to commerce, navigation, and fisheries. Revenues for the Port of Los Angeles come from fees for shipping services. The Port of Los Angeles is a landlord port, leasing its property to tenants who operate their own facilities.

The Port of Los Angeles covers over three thousand hectares (over 1.7 thousand hectares of land and almost 1.3 thousand hectares of water surface). It stretches across 69 kilometers of waterfront with water depths of up to 16.2 meters. The Port of Los Angeles handles about 190 million metric tons of cargo each year. The Port of Los Angeles contains 69 container cranes, including 20 post-Panamax Plus cranes. It also contains 17 marinas with 3800 slips for recreational boats. The World Cruise Center in the Port of Los Angeles is the country's most secure cruise passenger complex.

The Port of Los Angeles contains 27 cargo terminals that handle containers, liquid and dry bulk, breakbulk, and automobiles and support 270 berths. Terminals in the Port of Los Angeles specialize in containers (8 terminals), liquid bulk cargoes (7 terminals), breakbulk (3 terminals), dry bulk (2 terminals), passengers and ferries (2 terminals), and automobiles (1 terminal). The Port of Los Angeles also has four warehouse terminals.
In 2008, the Port of Los Angeles served 2370 vessels carrying a total of 170 million metric revenue tons of cargo, including 8.3 million TEUs of containerized cargo and almost 163.4 thousand automobiles. That year, the Port of Los Angeles also welcomed 1.2 million cruise passengers.
The top five containerized imported cargoes arriving at the Port of Los Angeles included furniture (415.3 thousand TEUs), apparel (362.5 thousand TEUs), automobile parts (309.7 thousand TEUs), electronic products (254.5 thousand TEUs), and footwear (131.8 thousand TEUs). The top five containerized exported cargoes leaving the Port of Los Angeles included paper, paperboard, and wastepaper (234.4 thousand TEUs); scrap metal (183.1 thousand TEUs); fabrics and raw cotton (117.5 thousand TEUs); pet and animal feed (77.7 thousand TEUs); and resins (72.2 thousand TEUs).

By share of cargo volume, the top five trade routes operating in the Port of Los Angeles included the Far East (93%); domestic routes (3%); Australia and New Zealand (1%); India, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea (1%), and Latin America (1%). By cargo value, the top five trading partners for the Port of Los Angeles were China ($117.9 billion US), Japan ($38.7 billion US), Taiwan ($13.3 billion US), South Korea ($9 billion US), and Thailand ($7.5 billion US).
The Port of Los Angeles offers a wide range of facilities, waterfront property, and recreational facilities. It contains five busy intermodal rail yards that reduce traffic on the busy Los Angeles streets and facilitate the efficient flow of cargo within the Port of Los Angeles. Each of the Port of Los Angeles' terminals is a modern facility dedicated to meetings its customers' needs by providing more than adequate space and the latest technological innovations.

Automobiles are handled at the Port of Los Angeles' Berths 195 through 199. The terminal covers 34.4 hectares and has a total of 685.8 meters in five berths with alongside depths from 9.8 to 10.4 meters. The terminal has capacity to store up to 8000 vehicles, and it is equipped with an extensive rail yard to facilitate loading/unloading of autos. Its customers include Nissan, Nissan Diesel, and Infiniti. Wallenius Wilhemsen Logistics Vehicle Services Americas, Inc. operates this Port of Los Angeles terminal.
Eight terminals in the Port of Los Angeles handle containerized cargoes, and four dockside intermodal rail yards with direct access to the Alameda Corridor support those terminals. The West Basin Container Terminal at Berth 100 covers 30.4 hectares and contains total berth length of 365.8 meters with alongside depths from 13.7 to 16.2 meters. The terminal is equipped ample equipment and an on-dock rail facility. This Port of Los Angeles terminal serves China Shipping, Yang Ming, K-Line, Cosco, Hanjin, Sinotrans, and Zim shipping lines. The Port of Los Angeles's West Basin Container Terminal, Berths 121 through 131, covers 71.2 hectares and includes over a kilometer of berths with alongside depths from 10.7 to 13.7 meters.

TransPacific Container Service Corporation (TraPac) operates the container terminal at the Port of Los Angeles' Berths 135 through 139. The terminal covers 70 hectares and contains five berths with total berth length of more than 1.2 kilometers with alongside depths from 10.7 to 16.2 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal includes a 2.6 thousand square meter maintenance shop, 546 reefer plugs (wheels), 48 grounded reefer plugs, and three generators that maintain 96 more plugs. The terminal has wash systems for container exteriors and interiors. This Port of Los Angeles terminal serves these shipping lines: Mitsui OSK, China Shipping, Norasia, Compania Sudamericana de Vapores, Zim, Wan Hai, APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine Company, and CMA-CGM.

The Port of Los Angeles Container Terminal at Berths 206 through 209 covers 34.8 hectares and includes 664.5 meters of berths with alongside depths from 12.2 to 13.7 meters. The terminal includes a Container Freight Station.

The Yusen Terminal at Port of Los Angeles Berths 212 through 225 handles containerized cargo imports and grounded export containers. The terminal covers an area of 74.9 hectares and includes over 1.7 kilometers of berths with alongside depths from 10.7 to 13.7 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal includes a two thousand square meter administration/in-gate building, a 2.2thousand square meter maintenance and repair building (with ten bays), and a 462.5 square meter marine building. It also contains 1200 wheeled container slots with 500 reefer plugs. The terminal boasts 16 entry lanes and seven exit lanes in the Port of Los Angeles as well as near-dock rail facilities. It serves the NYK, OOCL, and Hapag-Lloyd shipping lines.

The Port of Los Angeles' Seaside Terminal is located at Berths 226 through 236. The terminal covers 83 hectares and contains over 1.4 kilometers of berths with alongside depths from 11.6 to 13.7 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal includes maintenance and repair facilities, a refrigerated container wash rack, and on-dock rail facilities. It serves Evergreen Marine Corporation, Hatsu Marine, and Italia Marittima SPA shipping lines.

The APL Terminal/Global Gateway South container terminal occupies Berths 302 through 305 in the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal covers 118.2 hectares and contains over 1.2 kilometers of berths with alongside depth of 15.2 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal includes a 5.1 thousand square meter maintenance and repair facility, and the on-dock rail service can accommodate as many as 64 five-platform double-stack railcars. The gate complex at this Port of Los Angeles terminal has an intermodal control tower, 13 inbound and 12 outbound lanes, and a real-time computer system for gate operations. The terminal also includes 600 refrigerated container plugs and a wash system for container interiors and exteriors. The terminal serves the APL, Hyundai, MOL, ANZDL, Fesco, HamburgSud, and Maersk shipping lines.

The Port of Los Angeles' APM Terminals/Pier 400 is located at Berths 401 through 406. The terminal covers 195.9 hectares and contains almost 2.2 kilometers of berths with alongside depth of 16.8 meters. The terminal includes separate buildings for administration, vessel operations, and rail operations. This Port of Los Angeles terminal includes a maintenance and repair facility with multi-purpose dock and on-dock service with capacity for loading 12 trucks and for 96 railcars. The facility has six adjacent storage tracks and three advanced gate complexes with 36 inbound and 20 outbound lanes. The terminal also contains 1800 refrigerated container plugs. It serves the Maersk and Horizon shipping lines.

Three Port of Los Angeles terminals handle breakbulk cargoes. The Port of Los Angeles operates the terminal at Berths 49 through 53, handling breakbulk and steel. The total length of the berths is 640.1 meters with alongside depth of 10.7 to 15.5 meters. The terminal covers 9.7 hectares and is equipped with on-dock rail access. Its primary customer is the Pasha Group.

The Port of Los Angeles terminal at Berths 54 and 55 is operated by Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), handling imported meats, Chilean fruit, kiwis, and apples. The terminal covers 4.9 hectares and includes a transit shed of 1.7 hectares. The berths are a total of 408.4 meters long with alongside depth of 10.7 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal serves the NYK, LauritzenCool, and CSAV shipping lines.

Pasha Group operates the terminal at Berths 174 through 181 in the Port of Los Angeles. Handling steel, the terminal covers 16.2 hectares and includes a 2.2 hectare transit shed and specialized on-dock rail service. The berths total over a kilometer in length and have alongside depths from 10.7 to 13.7 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal serves Pasha Properties Inc. and Pasha's shipping line.
The Port of Los Angeles has seven facilities handling liquid bulk cargoes that occupy a total area of 46.1 hectares. The handling facilities include tankers, bulk carriers, barges, and storage tanks, all with convenient rail access.

Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminals receives and exports petroleum products at the terminal at Berths 118 through 120 at the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal covers five hectares and contains 251.5 meters of berths with alongside depth of 10.7 meters. The terminal is equipped with 11 storage tanks with total capacity for 498 thousand barrels of cargo.

ConocoPhillips unloads vessels of partly- or fully-refined petroleum products at Berths 148 through 151 in the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal covers 5.5 hectares and contains 404.8 meters of berths with alongside depth of 11.3 meters. The terminal contains 26 storage tanks with capacity for 825 thousand barrels.

Nustar Energy handles marine oil at the Port of Los Angeles' Berth 163. The terminal covers 2.3 hectares and has berths of 270.7 meters with alongside depth of 12.2 meters. The terminal contains 19 storage tanks with capacity for 599 thousand barrels.

Valero handles cargoes of fuels and lubricants at Berth 164 in the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal covers 4.2 hectares and contains 270.7 meters of berths with alongside depth of 12.2 meters. The terminal has 17 storage tanks with capacity for 947 thousand barrels.

Shell handles fuels and lubricants at the Port of Los Angeles' Berths 167 through 169. The terminal covers 3.7 hectares, and the berths are a total of 377.3 meters long with alongside depth of 12.2 meters. This Port of Los Angeles terminal contains ten storage tanks with capacity for 580 thousand barrels.
Vopak handles liquid bulk chemical products at Berths 187 through 191 in the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal covers 14 hectares, and it includes 712 meters of berths with alongside depth of 11.6 meters. The terminal also contains 60 storage tanks with total capacity for 700 thousand barrels and another 22 storage tanks at an inland site with capacity for 1.7 million barrels. The terminal includes the Port of Los Angeles' bulk cement distribution facility with an almost eight thousand square meter warehouse.
ExxonMobil handles fuels and lubricants at the Port of Los Angeles' Berths 238 through 240C. The terminal covers 12.7 hectares and contains 275.2 meters of berths with alongside depth of 11.3 meters. The terminal includes 26 storage tanks with capacity for over 2.3 million barrels.

Two terminals in the Port of Los Angeles specialize in handling dry bulk cargoes. US Borax Inc. handles industrial borates at the Port of Los Angeles' Berths 165 and 166. The terminal covers 2.8 hectares and contains 207 meters of berths with alongside depth of 11.3 meters. The terminal is the only privately-held facility in the Port of Los Angeles, and it can transfer cargo to vessels at up to one thousand metric tons per hour. It has storage capacity for 350 thousand tons.

SA Recycling handles all grades of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals at Berths 210 and 211 in the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal covers 10.8 hectares and contains 457.2 meters of berths with alongside depth of 10.7 meters. The terminal includes an on-site metal shear and shredder and near-dock rail facilities.

The Port of Los Angeles has five hectares of warehouse facilities that extend for 524.3 meters of berths. The warehouses feature rail accessibility and convenient storage. The Crescent Warehouse Company at Berth 153 in the Port of Los Angeles covers almost eight thousand square meters and has rail access. Located at Berth 154 in the Port of Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Fumigation Inc. operates a 5.4 thousand square meter warehouse with rail access. The Port of Los Angeles Real Estate Division manages a 4.5 thousand square meter warehouse at Berth 155 and an almost 2.5 thousand square meter warehouse at Berth 155A. Both of these Port of Los Angeles warehouses have rail access.

The Port of Los Angeles' intermodal services are modern and substantial. Each double-stack train that leaves the port delivers hundreds of containers. The Port of Los Angeles' Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) is a near-dock rail yard located about eight kilometers from the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Opened in 1896 as a multi-user facility, the Port of Los Angeles' ICTF serves many shipping lines. The Union Pacific Railroad operates the ICTF, moving more than seven million containers between 1986 and 1999. The ICTF serves 70 eastbound and 70 westbound trains per week.
The Port of Los Angeles' ICTF operates a 101-hectare rail yard operation with on-site storage capacity for over 3000 containers. It has multiple train routes to destinations in the United States and Mexico. The adjacent storage yard can handle as many as 100 double-stack railcars. The ICTF main gate in the Port of Los Angeles has 16 entrance/exit lanes for container trucks, and it can process an average 1800 transactions per day. The main gate is linked to container-handling equipment in the rail yard and with Union Pacific's computer cargo-tracking system. The ICTF is also protected by remote security cameras and round-the-clock security patrols.

Port of Los Angeles customers also need dedicated on-dock rail yards for their own use and to help alleviate the city's considerable traffic congestion. The Port of Los Angeles has four modern on-dock rail complexes at the waterfront. Each of these complexes was designed in partnership by the Port of Los Angeles, port customers, and transcontinental railroads to assure optimal efficiency and convenience. These Port of Los Angeles complexes are located in the backland area of the container terminals to avoid dockside disruptions and make the best possible use of port lands. Each complex contains both loading and storage rail tracks to assure efficiency and maximize throughput capacity. The complexes boast security fencing and lighting that satisfy US Customs Service regulations, and they are equipped with heavy-duty paving and fire protection.

Global Gateway South in the Port of Los Angeles, the container facility at Pier 300 on Terminal Island, is operated by Eagle Marine Services for APL Limited. The 106-hectare terminal is the largest of its kind in North America, and it includes an on-dock rail yard with eight 823-meter-long rail tracks that can accommodate 64 five-platform double-stack railcars. The terminal is equipped with a special-use rail line for direct transfer of over-sized cargo within the Port of Los Angeles.

Maersk, the world's biggest shipping line, operates the world's biggest proprietary container terminal in the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal also has the Port of Los Angeles' biggest on-dock rail yard at Pier 400. Operated by APM Terminals, the Maersk Railyard in the Port of Los Angeles is a 16-hectare intermodal facility has 12 762-meter-long loading tracks, each with capacity for eight 93-meter double-stack railcars (a total of 96 railcars).

Two of the busiest cargo complex in the Port of Los Angeles are the 66-hectare container terminal operated by Evergreen America Corporation and the 75-hectare container terminal operated by Yusen Terminals Inc. (a NYK Line subsidiary). The Port of Los Angeles constructed the Terminal Island Container Transfer Facility (TICTF) to serve these two terminals with dedicated on-dock rail service. The TICTF has four 701-meter-long loading rail tracks that can handle 28 five-platform double-stack railcars. The TICTF has separate dedicated arrival and departure rail tracks.

The Yang Ming/China Shipping on-dock rail yard serves the 53-hectare container terminal in the Port of Los Angeles' West Basin area at Berth 100. The rail yard has three 914-meter-long loading rail tracks that can handle 27 five-platform double-stack railcars. It includes a dedicated departure rail track and a dedicated rail track for facilitating switching between loading and storage rail tracks.

The Port of Los Angeles has invested over $200 million US in improving its rail and highway infrastructure to increase the port's productivity, improve major traffic routes throughout the port area, and enhance the Port of Los Angeles' cargo delivery system. The Port of Los Angeles plans to open two more rail yards in the next few years. One new on-dock rail yard will serve the TraPac Container Terminal and the Southern California International Gateway. A new near-dock facility will be located near the ICTF.

The Port of Los Angeles operates Foreign Trade Zone 202 (FTZ202) on over two thousand hectares of port property that includes warehousing facilities. FTZ202 contains over 20 general purpose sites in the South Bay and the region. It also includes five subzones in the Port of Los Angeles communities of Wilmington and Northridge and in El Segundo, Carson, and Lebec.

The World Cruise Center is located at Berths 91 through 93 of the Port of Los Angeles. Covering an area of 7.3 hectares, the terminal contains three berths with a total length of 485 meters and alongside depth of 11.3 meters. The concourse is 336 meters long, and the navigational channel is 305 meters wide. The Port of Los Angeles' World Cruise Center includes two terminal buildings, four passenger-processing areas, expedited customs clearance an baggage handling services, secure parking, and passenger shuttle services.

The World Cruise Center in the Port of Los Angeles has homeport agreements with Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line. It enjoys regular calls from Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Seabourn Cruise Line, and Silver Sea Cruises. In 2007, the World Cruise Center welcomed 255 cruise vessels carrying over 1.1 million passengers. The Port of Los Angeles also has 17 marinas that contain slips for 3701 recreational boats. Eleven of these marinas are located in Wilmington, five are in San Pedro, and one is at Terminal Island.