Tacoma has pledged to tackle falling box throughput spurred by the loss of a major shipping line and increased competition from both Canada and the US East Coast.
Tacoma traffic fell 9.1% in the first nine months of this year, while other US West Coast ports have seen a rise in throughput.
According to chief executive John Wolfe, new strategies are being put in place to win back traffic, although other commentators suggest that traffic diversification is the way forward.
The decision taken by Maersk to move traffic from Tacoma to Seattle was a major blow. Maersk and CMA CGM consolidated their North West traffic by sharing capacity in Seattle, where throughput had risen 46.5% by the end of August.
The Port of Tacoma Commission chairman, Don Johnson commented: “We have to continue to do our best to make sure that we give shippers the most cost-effective solutions to their problems.” He added that he was confident that container traffic could be won back.