Where I work

Matson ship, Mahi Mahi from Hawaii is heading into the Port of Long Beach

I work at the Port of Long Beach- and sometimes, my job can be very exciting especially if we get to go out in the field. This place is massive and responsible for more than $100 billion goods that move through Long Beach, making it the second-busiest seaport in the United States.

Mahi Mahi making its way underneath the Gerald Desmond Bridge


Few facts at a glance from the Port of Long Beach website.

International ranking
Long Beach is the second busiest port in the United States
Long Beach is the 18th busiest container cargo port in the world
If combined, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles would be the world's sixth-busiest port complex (11.8 million total TEU), after Singapore (25.9 million TEU), Shanghai (25 million), Hong Kong (21 million), Shenzhen, China (18.2 million) and Busan, S. Korea (11.9 million)


These gigantic gantry cranes are used to take the cargo containers on and off the ships


Top Imports
Crude oil
Electronics
Plastics
Furniture
Clothing

Top Exports
Petroleum coke
Refined petroleum
Chemicals
Waste paper
Foods


These are 20 foot containers

Miles of containers get sorted and placed onto rail or trucks for shipment

Regional economic impacts
More than $5 billion a year in U.S. Customs revenues from the Long Beach/Los Angeles ports
About $4.9 billion a year in local, state and general federal taxes from Port-related trade
More than $47 billion in direct and indirect business sales yearly
Nearly $14.5 billion in annual trade-related wages

Trading partners
East Asian trade accounts for more than 90% of the shipments through the Port
Top trading partners, by tonnage, are China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Iraq, Ecuador, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Much thanks to Art Wong for the tour.