October 10, 2021
The pandemic has interrupted worldwide supply chains and markets in manner ins which have resulted in backlogs of cargo ships at crucial ports.
Growing need for consumer and goods, labor shortages, bad weather, and a selection of COVID-related supply chain snarls are contributing to backlogs of freight ships at ports around the world.
Amongst those seaports are the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach in Southern California, the two busiest container ports in the United States. On October 10, 2021, the Operational Land Imager ( OLI) on Landsat 8 caught this natural-color picture of dozens of freight ships waiting offshore for their rely on discharge items. On the very same day, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer ( ASTER) on NASAs Terra satellite got similar imagery (below).
On October 10, 2021, NASAs Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument captured an image of over 70 ships waiting to dock and unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, due to a supply-chain crunch. The two ports have actually had uncommonly big numbers of waiting ships because June 2020. Ship backlogs at ports are not limited to Los Angeles. Chinas Yantian port in Shenzhen has more than 67 container ships waiting, partially due to the fact that tropical cyclone Kompasu caused the port to momentarily close.
On October 10, 2021, NASAs Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument caught an image of over 70 ships waiting to dock and unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, due to a supply-chain crunch. The image covers an area of 14 by 16 miles (23 by 25 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The number of ships waiting was down from a record-high of 73 on September 19, 2021. The two ports have had abnormally large numbers of waiting ships because June 2020.
Ship stockpiles at ports are not limited to Los Angeles. In other places in the United States, ports in New York, New Jersey, Georgia, and Texas have faced similar challenges, according to news reports. Chinas Yantian port in Shenzhen has more than 67 container ships waiting, partly due to the fact that tropical cyclone Kompasu triggered the port to temporarily close. Ports in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai all had 10 or more container ships waiting in mid-October, according to Bloomberg.
NASA-funded scientists have used satellites and other tools to track various manner ins which the COVID-19 pandemic has changed elements of human activity and its impact on the environment. Researchers have tracked indicators varying from air pollution and night time light activity and shipping. In particular, the Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center has been utilizing expert system technology and high-resolution satellite images to track shipping activity at major U.S. ports.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey.