On this episode of Maritime Industry Today, Sal Mercogliano - Associate Professor of History at Campbell University (www.campbell.edu), former merchant mariner, and adjunct professor of Maritime Industry Policy at US Merchant Marine Academy (www.usmma.edu) - discusses why you should start preparing for Christmas NOW due to the current shipping situation; particularly on the West Coast of the United States. Sal discusses the backlog of ships off the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland, along with the issues surrounding it and the responses by the major carriers and the Federal Maritime Commission. In the last episode, Sal provided a recap of several stories - MV NYK Delphinus, MV President Eisenhower, MV Golden Ray, the expansion of the Suez Canal and the Jones Act waivers dealing with the Colonial Pipeline. https://youtu.be/aBqlSAocFcU Time to start prepping for Christmas shipping capacity crunch https://www.freightwaves.com/news/time-to-start-prepping-for-christmas-shipping-capacity-crunch Forecast Warns Link Between Container Traffic and Global Economic Growth Could Decline in Recovery https://gcaptain.com/forecast-warns-link-between-container-traffic-and-global-economic-growth-could-decline-in-recovery/ Transpacific volumes show no sign of easing https://splash247.com/transpacific-volumes-show-no-sign-of-easing/ Blank Sailing Schedules Creating Further Delays for Shippers https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/blank-sailing-schedules-creating-further-delays-for-shippers Shipper group pressures Congress to clamp down on ocean carriers https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shipper-group-pressures-congress-to-clamp-down-on-ocean-carriers FMC floats Shipping Act update https://container-news.com/fmc-floats-shipping-act-update/ Maritime Exchange of Southern California https://mxsocal.org/