How Ocean Shipping Works (And Why It's Broken)

Writing by Sam Denby
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster

Select footage courtesy Getty and AP; Select imagery courtesy Geolayers; Select music courtesy Epidemic sound

[cheopatius]

@Wendover Productions
I was on the Maersk Essex in 2021, an interesting piece of information for you, about Los Angeles:
We were at anchor for 19 days in May, just like you describe in the video for November - the interesting part was, that we sailed at maximum load (~21kn) over the Pacific.
The Captain and I had fun calculating just how many $s fuel we had 'wasted' - as opposed to slow-steaming and coming alongside on arrival.
We calculated that we wasted approx. 130k$ worth of fuel, about 260 metric tons.
This is due to how the slots are set up in LA: First come, first serve.
Insane waste of fuel because of bureaucracy.

Thanks for the video!

[legby]

One additional factor that might be in play for the 17 day wait is this Maersk vessel was waiting for a berth specifically at APM Terminals, which is also owned by the Maersk parent company. There are significant cost savings there for the shipping line.

Source: I used to work for Maersk.

[jbleisem]

6:20 As a sailor I can say that port calls are always busy for the crew, especially in the container trade (24/7/365). Loading and discharging needs to be supervised (at a minimum). Other cargo jobs are (de)ballasting, opening and closing of hatches, moving lashing equipment, sometimes operating the vessels cargo gear plus (un-)lashing cargo, gangway watch, etc. Other tasks are maintenance, bunkering fuel, taking on stores, discharging garbage, dealing with local authorities, etc. With Covid-19 regulations going ashore is all but prohibited, except for crew change.

A important reason for making a ship bigger is fuel economy. A bigger ship needs less engine power per ton of cargo. Extra bonus is that they don't need a bigger crew.

[alexlloyd]

I live in Yantian (yen tyen) district of Shenzhen and see cargo ships coming and going all the time from my apartment window. I was impressed that your footage at that moment of the video really was from the Yantian shipping yard and not some random place. In the background of one of those shots, Wutong Mountain can be seen. It's a favorite hiking spot of mine. Nice attention to detail.

[billdong]

“Ships are more efficient at lower speeds”

I’m not lazy I’m just efficient 👌

[zonghaoli]

Always loved receiving packages from ocean shipping, it’s like opening a mystery box because I’ve forgotten what I’ve bought 5month ago.

[georgeg]

Kudos for the video - also for the great info found in the comment section. It's great to see an industry you work in into the spotlight - I worked for a big ShipCo for several years and was on-board MV/CV/MT vessels for the most part of the year. It took the prolonged effects of the epidemic to slow everything to a standstill and effectively delete thousands of jobs...
Anyway, what should we always remind ourselves is that the heroes of these times are the mariners: the unseen, unsung and often deceived workforce that has to endure extraordinairily bad conditions and severe weather, accept unlawful contract extensions for many months, be away from family and loved ones, unable to get on shore, and pray that no disease or accident happens while underway. Please, keep that in mind the next time you buy anything produced on another country and/or continent.

[mosesracal]

Seafaring is such a profitable venture here in the Philippines that landing on a job on a ship brings more money compared to local engineers and doctors in the country.

[h]

As someone who works and basically lives on the Maersk Santana ship, this video is surprisingly very accurate.

[Alucard]

That whole thing about an 8000 mile journey for a box of shoes costing less than a chicken nugget is unintentionally hilarious.

[HeBreaksLate]

Part of the problem with Los Angeles/Long Beach is that while the different terminal operators mutually benefit from the rail and highway infrastructure in the area, they are still separate. Which means that if the operator with whom the shipping company has contracted with doesn't have an available berth, the ship waits. This is contrasted with the Port of Virginia, which is entirely owned and operated by the Virginia Port Authority, an autonomous agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. So if there are no available berths at the Norfolk International Terminal and there are availabilities at Portsmouth Marine Terminal, it is a trivial matter to reroute the cargo and bring it ashore sooner.

[mominx]

As someone working in container shipping industry, I can safely say that this is a very accurate, and detailed explanation of shipping process. Kudos to the researchers.

[Earlesstag]

I have literally always been looked at as weird for being super fascinated by Logistics and you guys validate my fascination lol. Thanks!

[joeottsoulbikes]

So a Bicycle manufacture here in Seattle could not wait in the slowdown for bikes to be delivered. They stepped out of the box, or rather had the boxes put some place else. Instead of having his six 40ft shipping containers put on a container ship, he hired a shallow draft bulk goods ship out of Vietnam. Normally the ship would have carried goodd to someplace like Argentina or Namibia, smaller port clo countries with no deep water ports. He had that ship load up with nothing but his bikes and come to Seattle. The ship was so small they did not have to wait off shore. They came right into Fisherman's Cove and had a Foss Enginering Tugg with a 25ft tall crain lift the containers off and set them down on a truck sitting next to the dock. Even the process of customs was faster with the small ship. The overall cost of shipping was higher but now he was able to turn 4 shipments of 6 containers year instead of just 3 or 4 that the slowdown caused. More bikes sold at a reduced gross profit was better than fewer bikes at a lower cost. To try and reduce the cost of having the ship charge him for bring containers and going home empty, the bike company found a handful of companies that made goods here that they needed them shipped to Asia. That way the bulk ship left loaded down with containers and crates to China. Sometimes to solve your timeline problem you need to think small. The company is Rad Power Bikes of Seattle, Wa. I read about this in a few articles about them and how they have become the worlds largest E Bike spacofic manufacture.

[ExplainedExplanation]

The dialogue and delivery is top notch I can only imagine the effort put into this keep up the great work !

[dct]

The part mentioned about complex computer programs used for the logistics of storage may be a stretch or maybe more utilized in the Asia countries. You would be surprised on how manual and inefficient the planning process is especially at the US ports. A whole lot of manual inputs/updates and planning at a local level. Automation is slow and on the back burner at the US ports mainly because of the local unions. Another thing to mention is that container ships cant just dock anywhere, there are specific terminals they have contracts with and have to wait at the specific port. There are also factors with US customs and paperwork where cargo cant just on the fly be diverted etc etc etc.

[bloodred]

I'm more impressed by the ships ability to change its size.

[jamjamrich]

As a seafarer I’m pleased that you’ve briefly touched on the hardships associated with the current pandemic situation. We are the silent navy that keeps the world turning that many forget

[Pulvite]

I did an internship at Fenix Marine Services during the summer of 2021 right when all the "congestion" happened. It was baffling to me to see so many vessels anchored off the coast waiting for an open berth. Fantastic work on the video! Amazing as always.

[jihoonoh]

As someone who used to work at the shipyard where Maersk Essex was built, Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, I'd like to compliment Wendover productions on its efforts into making such an informative and well-documented, accurate video of the worldwide supply chain disruption featuring a ship that I personally contributed in securing a contract with AP Moller Maersk