The association representing more than 80 ocean carriers and terminal operators said it will close all 29 U.S. ports on the West Coast, saying the dockworkers’ union continued today to disrupt operations by engaging in slowdowns.

The carriers won’t call up crews for the evening shift, which starts at 6 p.m. Pacific Time, and for tomorrow morning’s shift, said Tom Edwards, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the companies and terminal operators.

Container ships are lying idle at the ports of California, Oregon and Washington because the union isn’t supplying enough labor to unload them, he said. It is unclear what affect the latest shutdown could have on Hawai‘i, which gets 90 percent of its goods by container ship.

Businesses have been stockpiling goods for weeks as tensions in the contract talks had escalated and on Friday many said they had enough goods on hand to weather the initial 36-hour shutdown with little impact.

Officials with the Islands’ major shipping company Matson Navigation Inc. had said that if ports reopened as scheduled today there would be small delays. But today’s new port shutdown raises questions about the possibility of a larger impact.

“Following a 38-hour ‘cooling down’ period implemented by the (carriers’ association) on Friday, all West Coast ports reopened this morning with disappointing results,” Matson president and chief executive James Andrasick said in a written statement issued today.

Productivity was down on several West Coast ports and the number of workers provided to the shipping companies was insufficient, the Matson statement said.

Matson said that in response, the association told all member organizations not to use union laborers for today’s night shift, all shifts on Monday and the Tuesday day shift.

Two Matson vessels were able to leave the West Coast for Hawaii over the weekend, Andrasick said. One left Oakland just before the initial lockout, the other left Los Angeles just before the latest shutdown.

The Lihue, which Matson had added to accommodate freight and auto shipments out of Oakland, should arrive in Honolulu on Wednesday. The MV R.J. Pfeiffer out of Los Angeles is to arrive Thursday, Andrasick said. Because of the work situation today, the ship was only partially loaded with cargo, he said.

Other ships sat in West Coast docks, waiting to be loaded or unloaded whenever work resumes.

Stevedoring operations in Honolulu and on the Neighbor Islands continued normally without slowdowns or problems, Andrasick said. At least one ship will depart for the West Coast on Monday.

The ports reopened this morning after the carriers association had locked out the dockworkers for 36 hours, beginning Friday night. According to the carriers, union workers had deliberately slowed down work at the terminals, causing ships to miss their sail times, disrupting rail schedules and leaving cargo idle on the docks.

The association said that when ports reopened the International Longshore and Warehouse Union deliberately disrupting work by understaffing operations and dispatching unskilled workers.

“The union has escalated the situation,” said Edwards.

Jeremy Prillwitz, a union spokesman, said employers had been bargaining in bad faith and that the first lockout had provoked them to respond. He said longshoremen wanted to work, but only under safe conditions.

The union represents about 10,500 workers in three states.

The union and the carriers group have been negotiating a new labor contract since May. The carriers want to implement new information technology at the terminals to speed up cargo movement and relieve congestion during peak shipping periods. The union won’t agree to these changes unless it gets control over more technology-related jobs.

The West Coast ports handle about $300 billion in trade annually, most of which is Asian-made consumer goods, such as clothes, shoes, electronics and furniture for U.S. retailers. A 10- day shutdown of the ports could cost the U.S. economy as much as $19.4 billion, according to consulting firm Martin Associates.

Imports through the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest U.S. container port, increased 30 percent in August from the year- earlier period. In Long Beach, the second-busiest container port, they were up 5.9 percent. August and September are historically two of the busiest months at the ports as retailers bring in merchandise for the holiday season.