Early warning: blizzard and ice in Northern Europe block two major ports

Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, focusing on markets such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~

Recently, due to the heavy snowfall brought by the cold wave, transportation in many places in Europe has been severely hampered, and the operations of the two major ports - Hamburg and Rotterdam have been interrupted.

Snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures are affecting all major modes of transport in Northern Europe – including trucking, rail and barge transport – causing delays and disruptions at terminals and warehouses.

On January 7, local time, Maersk issued an announcement stating that Northern Europe is currently suffering from severe cold winter weather, including heavy snow, freezing and low temperatures. These severe weather conditions affected operations at major terminals, particularly in Rotterdam and Hamburg, and disrupted inland transport networks.

As a result, dock and yard productivity is reduced, while snow and icy road conditions cause truck traffic congestion and delays.

Rail services were also affected by frozen switches, causing service disruptions and cancellations. Together, these factors are leading to longer waiting times for imports and exports and exacerbating yard congestion at multiple terminals.

Maersk said waiting times for truck shipments were lengthening at its Hamburg terminal and cargo processing speeds were also slowing down in Antwerp and Rotterdam.

On the railway side, train services from Rotterdam to Venlo were affected by track failures and train cancellations, while services from Rotterdam to Duisburg were also delayed.

To ease pressure on terminals and minimize the risk of delays, Maersk is asking customers to pick up import containers as early as possible. When transporting containers to the terminal, be sure to thoroughly clear snow and ice to ensure safe and efficient loading and unloading.

In addition, Hapag-Lloyd said terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp are operating at a slower pace and in some cases terminal activities may be temporarily suspended.

As a result, shipping and cargo shipments through these locations will experience delays.

Once again, I would like to remind all cargo owners and freight forwarders that as the peak shipping season before the Spring Festival approaches, please do a good job of tracking the goods after shipment to avoid unnecessary losses due to cargo delays.