End In Sight For West Coast Ports Dispute

The West Coast ports dispute is expected to end Friday.

Shipping companies have already accepted the new contract.

Port workers have also voted on the contract and are expected to release their results today.

KUOW’s Carolyn Adolph reports on the consequences of the months-long conflict.

TRANSCRIPT

At the height of the ports dispute a few months ago, West Coast ports like Seattle and Tacoma were bound up with cargo containers.

There was no more ship parking available in Puget Sound. And truckers sat around waiting for a trickle of work.

Peter Tirschwell is senior director at the Journal of Commerce, which covers global trade. He says the journal surveyed shippers and found them discouraged. “They're saying that West Coast ports overall can’t be depended upon.”

Peter McGraw, spokesman for the Port of Seattle says everyone recognizes that damage was done. "We’re going to continue to work with the shippers to regain their confidence.”

But shippers have been sending their business to Canada. Cargo at the Port of Metro Vancouver is up 14 percent since the start of the year. And cargo at Prince Rupert is growing at triple Vancouver’s speed.

The Port of Seattle’s Peter McGraw: “They’re the ones that have been growing at our expense.”

He says the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, which are combining their operations, lost 10 percent of their market share over the last dozen years.

And Seattle’s Terminal 5, current home of Shell’s Arctic drilling rig, needs at least $150 million in infrastructure improvements so it can help Seattle compete with Canada for mega-ship business.

Peter Tirschwell of the Journal of Commerce says the Port could rebuild it -- “But whether the big ships will actually come is an entirely different matter.”

The Port of Seattle says Terminal 5 will be big ship ready in three years.