Maersk's latest warning! Port congestion increases, ship schedule delays
Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, focusing on markets such as Europe, America, Canada, Australia, Southeast Asia, etc., and is more than the owner of the cargo owner.
As congestion in ports in East Asia and Africa intensifies, Maersk said it may have to adopt a "cut and run" strategy this week to make some strategic adjustments at the transshipment ports.
On February 10, Maersk's official website released the latest customer notice saying that the company has noticed congestion in the Mombasa portal in Kenya due to "higher yard density than expected" and "equipment challenges". Maersk explained that these factors mean delays in ship mooring and departure.
According to the database of shipping consulting firm eeSea, there are 11 ships in Mombasa and 7 are waiting to be berth; the nearby port of Dar es Salaam reported that 9 ships are in port and 20 are waiting to be berth.
Maersk also said that ships from Far East Asia are experiencing delays to the port due to the long wait time of ships in Shanghai, Ningbo and Singapore.
According to eeSea data, there are 59 ships in Shanghai and 19 are waiting to be berth; there are 49 ships in Ningbo and Singapore, respectively, with 29 and 12 waiting to be berth.
Due to these challenges, Maersk said that details of partial berthing, navigation and suspension of Mashariki and Mawingu routes may change this week.
The ports of the Mashariki route are rotated to Shanghai-Ningbo-Nansha-Singapore-Tanjung Palapas-Mombasa, while the ports of the Mawingu Express route are rotated to Jawaharlal-Nehru-Mondra-Qasim Port -Salalah-Mombasa, then return to Jawaharlalah-Nehru via Salalah and Pipavav.
"The ships on our route were originally scheduled to arrive on Thursday and are now postponing to berthing on Friday. ETAs have further adjusted due to waiting time, which may delay the unloading of imported goods," Maersk explained. , In the case of "unable to accommodate all containers", "unexpected interruptions and operations" may be adopted to meet the transshipment needs of the transshipment port. In response, Maersk hopes that customers will be patient and the Shipping Corporation will strive to prioritize the shipment of the next available ship.
Peter Sander, chief analyst at Xeneta, global shipping market information platform, explained: "One of the strategies used by shipping companies to mitigate the impact of longer navigation distances (due to the Suez Canal diverter) is to increase the use of regions in Europe and Asia. Intra-transport services. These good intentions have had unexpected consequences and caused massive port congestion. Singapore is arguably the most important transshipment center in the world, at the center of this marine supply chain storm.”
He noted that port congestion in Singapore “again again” means shipping companies will continue to view the adjacent Tanjung Pelepas as a “obvious alternative”, as well as Port Klang. Tanjung Pelepas is the central hub of the Gemini Network.
Sander warned that the two routes from Shanghai to Singapore and from Shanghai to Tanjung Pellepas have switched locations three times since July 1, comparing which route is more expensive and predicting the The volatility may continue. “If shippers want to take advantage of the carrier’s strategy of using Tanjung Pellepas, they will have to pay extra for this privilege, and therefore the rates are up.”
Meanwhile, the strike of freight workers in Bangladesh means Chittagong is also working to address traffic congestion. eeSea's latest database shows that 11 ships docked in the port and 13 are waiting to be moored. There are 10 ships moored in the Colombo Port and 11 ships waiting for cargo to Bangladesh. The strike ended on Friday, so congestion in Chittagong may begin to ease, but delays remain as the port is working to clear up the backlog of cargo.
