The New York Times plays catch-up on the efforts of some shippers to find an alternative for the congested Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach - specifically the Tacoma/Seattle waterfronts. The Puget Sound area offers two big plusses: Its deepwater ports can handle the large container ships, and they are two days’ sail closer to Asia than Southern California. Of course, their numbers are still paltry compared to those in Socal. Last year, Seattle and Tacoma handled about 2.1 million 20-foot containers; L.A./Long Beach is expected to handle 15.6 million in 2006. That puts the 40 percent jump in Tacoma port traffic in some perspective.