Trans-Pacific Maritime
Special Report
Expansions in LA and Long Beach( pictured) aim to capture more existing demand as well as future growth. Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Los Angeles will soon be issuing an environmental impact report for LA TiL to upgrade the wharf and rail yard to accommodate larger container ships, he added.
Last October, the port released a request for proposals to evaluate the interest in and feasibility of constructing a 200-acre facility to be called the Pier 500 Marine Container Terminal. Pier 500, plans for which include 3,000 linear feet of wharf space and two berths capable of handling the largest container ships plying the trans-Pacific, would be the first new container terminal in Los Angeles since the opening of the adjacent Pier 400 in 2002.
Although longer than the timeline for Long Beach’ s Metro Express, the 10-year construction timeline for Pier 500 is still significantly shorter than most new terminals because it will be built on existing landfill. Rocks removed during other construction projects and dumped on site over the past 20 years have raised the site to about 15 feet below the water line, giving developers a head start.
Seroka stressed that the upgrades must extend beyond the ports’ physical infrastructure.
“ The nature of express services is not that the ships go faster; it’ s that they get in and out of the terminal faster.” should only take three to five years to complete, roughly half the time Los Angeles expects to take to build its 200-acre mega-terminal.
“ This terminal is a very straightforward project and ready for construction,” Stone said.
Larger ships
Recently announced terminal expansion projects in Los Angeles include the development of a 40-acre site adjacent to Pier 300 and upgrading the LA TiL Terminal in the port’ s West Basin. The port also plans to develop 80 acres of under-utilized land on Terminal Island into a maritime support facility for chassis parking and maintenance, as well as for container pickups and dropoffs.
During his address, Seroka said the port is in final discussions with Fenix Maritime Services, which operates Pier 300, over plans to add another berth and develop 40 acres of vacant land adjacent to the 300-acre terminal for cargo operations.
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Outside the terminal gates, officials in Los Angeles say they will continue to promote their plan to raise a crucial bridge at the entry to the port’ s harbor. Seroka acknowledged that redecking the Vincent Thomas Bridge will make the span safer for the 50,000-plus vehicles that cross it daily, some of which are drayage trucks carrying containers to and from the port.
“ But here’ s the bigger issue. We also need to raise or replace it to unlock our full terminal capacity north of the bridge,” he said.“ We pushed to do both together. That timeline simply didn’ t work, but this issue is not going away.”
Raising the bridge by 26 feet would allow super-post- Panamax vessels with up to 23,000 TEUs of capacity to serve Yusen Terminals, TraPac and the West Basin Container Terminal, increasing their effective capacity by 20 %, according to Seroka.
“ We’ re working with the governor’ s office and California transportation officials to explore all options— which could include building a new crossing,” he said.
In addition, the port will continue to expand and improve its technology-driven programs, including the Port Optimizer, which projects container volumes in a threeweek window, and the Universal Truck Appointment System, which Seroka said has improved gate usage at marine terminals by 20 %.
“ Building smarter also means investing in technology that powers everything we do,” he said.
email: bill. mongelluzzo @ spglobal. com
March 2, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 13