Proponents of automated cargo handling at U.S. ports have a rule: where megaships call, robots soon follow. So far, Southern California appears to be the destination of choice for both. Over the next decade, marine terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are expected to lead the way in adopting robotic cargo-handling capabilities in response to the arrival of more supersize ships. Unloading and organizing tens of thousands of containers--and readying an equal number to ship back out--requires coordination on a scale that is best left to machines, said Ashebir Jacob, a port planner and engineer with Moffatt & Nichol, a maritime infrastructure advisory firm. "As we start to receive bigger and bigger vessels on the West Coast, [automation] becomes really critical," he said.