LOS ANGELES—A fine on lingering containers at the Los Angeles ports, which never went into effect since its inception, was delayed for the ninth time in a row on Jan. 14, one day after the Harbor Commission voted 5–0 to extend the period of imposing the fine through April 29. Now the ports will potentially start collecting the fine next Friday, Jan. 21, if necessary, according to the announcement. Since October 2021, harbor commissioners intended to fine cargo companies—known as the Container Dwell Fee—to speed up the removal of containers idling at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, in hope of eliminating a backlog of ships trying to offload merchandise. But the ports kept delaying the collection of fine after noting a significant decline of the lingering cargo—about a 55 percent for both ports combined—since the fee was announced. “Since the announcement of the fee in October, import cargo …