SAN PEDRO, Calif. — The backup of port-bound vessels is lower than it’s been in months, finally out of the triple digits. Yet container ships are still waiting weeks to dock, running through provisions and patience.

Kenneth Meyers is the purchasing manager for Harbor Ship Supply, which is kind of like a personal shopping service for sailors.

“So they need to eat and drink. … Whatever you have in your house, they have on ship,” Meyers said.

Meyers and his family run much of the day-to-day operations at Harbor Ship Supply’s flagship San Pedro location.

The orders have gotten a lot more specific since COVID rules began preventing most sailors from coming on land. Rarely do they refuse an order, and it’s usually only because some things — like personal electronics — are hard for anyone to get right now.

“There’s items that we’re short that you can get it on the other ship if you can get the container … of course you can’t do that. That’s technically the way it kind of works,” Meyers said.

Jesse Velasquez drives the goods to the water’s edge to load onto a water taxi. With a historic backlog of ships placing larger orders and more frequent orders, his hours have become unpredictable.

“They want more stuff now,” Velasquez said. “Well, they need more stuff cause they’re out in anchor waiting for about a month if anything.”

“It’s good for business, yeah, because we are doing more,” Meyers said. “It hurts the companies, but hey that’s what we have to do.”

Someone has to supply the suppliers, and no one is immune to a strained supply chain.

Import activity usually slows down in February as overseas factories close for Lunar New Year celebrations, but this month is staying busy as work continues to clear the docks. The Port of Long Beach kicked off the new year with its busiest January on record. They saw imports and exports both increase.