In January, a record 109 ships awaited entry into the combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, often stretching to south Orange County.

It marked a peak in the supply chain congestion that has bedeviled the nation’s two busiest ports during much of the pandemic.

On Aug. 11, that number stood at nine ships.

“Just amazing,” Port of L.A. Executive Director Gene Seroka said about the decline.

“We’ve reduced the number of anchored ships by 90-some percent,” Seroka said in a recent phone interview, “while still moving record amounts of cargo in the first six months of this year.”

Among the most impactful tools the ports are now utilizing are sophisticated digital data trackers that give the seaports invaluable information on what ships are headed their way, how much cargo they’re bringing in and when they will arrive.

“We’re a lot smarter than we were a year ago,” Seroka said, adding that collaboration has seen a big boost throughout the supply chain as solutions are explored.

“I feel really good about where we are compared to last October,” Seroka said, adding that while he knew the digital tracking would make big improvements, he didn’t know how much or “how detailed it could get.”

But the supply chain is far from fixed.

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