EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia Journalist Zarina Khairzada spoke with two travelers at the Port of Los Angeles before their cruise. 

LOS ANGELES — As the pace of shipping continues to decline following two successive years of record growth, the Port of Los Angeles is ramping up its cruise operations. More than one million cruise passengers are expected to travel through the port when the fiscal year ends June 30—“the best in a number of years,” Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka said Thursday during his monthly port update. A record 250 cruise ships will make LA their port of call throughout 2023, he added. 

“Princess Cruises and the Port of LA started mainstream cruising,” Princess Cruises President John Padgett said during the briefing. A division of Carnival Corp., Princess ships were the setting for the hit TV show, “The Love Boat,” which ran for ten years, starting in 1977 and launching the cruising boom.

Now the Santa Clarita-based company operates half of its fleet of 15 modern cruise ships from the LA port, including its new Discovery Princess ship. It set sail last year from the outer harbor of the port, which will soon be the site of another cruise terminal.

The Port of LA recently issued a draft request for proposal for the new terminal and also plans to redevelop its existing world cruise facility, which is the home port for four cruise lines, including Norwegian Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean. 

Each cruise ship that ports in San Pedro adds more than $1 million to the local economy. In 2023, Seroka said the region will see a $250 million boost from the cruise business.

While cruises are big business, they pale in comparison to shipping, which accounts for 75% of the Port of LA’s revenue, Seroka said. Shipping, however, has been softening.

In January, the Port of LA moved 726,000 shipping containers — a 16% decrease compared with a year earlier. Imports also declined 13% year over year.

“With this slowdown in cargo, we’re now keeping a close eye on our vessel utilization rates,” Seroka said. “During the first six months of 2022, ships came into LA pretty much full. This past month we worked the same number of vessels as last January, but ships arrived with 16% less cargo.”

Seroka said he expects a “significant volume decline” heading into the second quarter as local warehouses continue to swell with inventory and as interest and inflation rates remain stubbornly high.

He expects shipments will bounce back starting in July and throughout the second half of the year as retailers increase imports of more traditional seasonal items such as fall fashion, back-to-school supplies and early year-end holiday cargo. 

Seroka noted that the shift of cargo away from the West Coast to East and Gulf Coast ports began in 2002. The West Coast’s share of transpacific trade has declined from 80% to 56%, he said. The Port of LA’s share of national cargo handling has dropped from 50% to 33% over the same time period. 

Seroka attributed the shift in cargo to the expense of shipping through the Ports of LA and Long Beach, over-regulation and complicated labor issues, whereas East and Gulf Coast leaders have aligned on regulations and have formed interstate partnerships to secure federal investments. Between 2010 and 2020, Seroka said, West Coast ports have received $1.2 billion in federal investment compared with $11 billion that have gone to the East and Gulf Coast ports.