San Pedro Bay Upgrades

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are getting roughly $70 million each in federal money as they also renew a trans-Pacific shipping pact with Singapore. (portoflosangeles.org) (polb.com) (portoflosangeles.org) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allocated about $70 million from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to the Port of Los Angeles on April 8 for harbor maintenance, seismic resiliency and navigational safety work. The Port of Long Beach said April 9 it will receive nearly $70 million, bringing the San Pedro Bay port complex total to a record $131.8 million. (portoflosangeles.org) (polb.com) That trust fund is paid for by a federal tax on import cargo moving through U.S. ports, then redistributed for dredging, navigation and other waterside upkeep. Long Beach said its share will go to waterfront repairs and upgrades tied to safe and efficient freight movement. (portoflosangeles.org) (polb.com) A green and digital shipping corridor is a plan to move cargo with cleaner fuels, lower emissions and more shared data across the same trade lane. On April 20 in Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach renewed that memorandum of understanding for another three years. (portoflosangeles.org) The corridor covers the trans-Pacific route between Singapore and San Pedro Bay, one of the world’s busiest container connections. The original agreement was signed in April 2023, and the ports published a partnership strategy in December 2023 at the United Nations climate conference. (portoflosangeles.org 1) (portoflosangeles.org 2) In April 2024, the three ports released a baseline study that projected green-job growth, health gains for nearby communities and economic benefits if cleaner shipping and digital coordination expand on the route. The renewed pact keeps that workstream in place as the ports pursue decarbonization and cargo-handling upgrades at the same time. (portoflosangeles.org) (polb.com) The combined moves come as the San Pedro Bay complex remains the main U.S. gateway for container trade from Asia and continues to invest in roads, terminals and zero-emission equipment. Port of Los Angeles cargo volume totaled 752,520 twenty-foot equivalent units in March 2026, and 2.39 million in the first quarter, according to the port. (portoflosangeles.org 1) (portoflosangeles.org 2) For now, the money addresses the water side of port operations while the Singapore agreement targets the emissions and data systems around the ships themselves. Together they extend a 2023 push to make the San Pedro Bay gateway faster to navigate and cleaner to run. (portoflosangeles.org 1) (portoflosangeles.org 2)