Seattle Is a Rarity Among U.S. Ports: It Has Room for More Ships

The trade gateways in the U.S. Pacific Northwest that handle the flow of containers, cars and commodities are standing out for their calm relative to the congestion bedeviling ports from Los Angeles to Savannah, Georgia.

Currently, there are no vessels waiting to enter the Northwest Seaport Alliance, which runs the neighboring ports of Seattle and Tacoma. The NWSA is touting “ample” terminal capacity. Extra equipment is arriving to help handle cargo sent there to avoid backups at other ports.

Meanwhile, more than 60 loaded container ships are lined up in waters off the U.S. this week, unable to dock at ...