ports in the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines are facing congestion and shipping delays!

 In recent years, the freight rates of most routes continue to soar, with the shortage of shipping space and container shortage. With the approaching of China's golden week and Christmas shipping season, the demand for shipping in September has increased significantly.

However, affected by the epidemic situation, the domestic export volume is much higher than the import volume, resulting in more containers going out with full load and less empty containers coming back. In previous years, the shortage of containers only occurred during the Spring Festival has arrived ahead of schedule this year.

In addition, ports in the United States, Japan, Australia, Nigeria, Los Angeles, Manila, Lagos, Algeria and other countries are all congested to a certain extent! You have to pay attention to shipping!

01 large container ships aggravate the congestion in Japanese ports, and ports are struggling to cope

According to shipping sources, large container ships deployed on East Asian routes have exacerbated congestion at Japanese ports as existing terminals are struggling to cope with larger vessels.

This problem has caused the carrier to change the berthing of ships, and some container ships have been forced to plan to leave in advance in order to avoid congestion, delay and congestion.

Among the existing berths in Tokyo, only one Y2 berth, 400 meters (1312 feet) long, can handle ships over 14000 TEU. In April, a consortium including Mitsui Soko and freight company Nippon express opened the Y2 terminal.

However, the average berth length of OI container terminal is 336m, and that of Aomi container terminal is 314m, which means that it can handle up to 8000TEU of ships, which also means that super large container ships deployed on Asia Europe and trans Pacific routes often occupy two berths.

"The problem we are seeing is that the number of vessels with a total length of 350 m or more is increasing in Japanese ports, and the narrow storage space at Tokyo terminal and the shortage of truck drivers are the main causes of congestion." Nils Meier, managing director of Hapag Lloyd in Japan.

"In Tokyo, most berths are 300 – 350 m in length, and when very large container ships dock at the same time, a lot of rescheduling is often required."

This problem has exacerbated the shortage of container yards at the Tokyo terminal.

"Tokyo's new Y2 terminal, with a berth length of 400 m, helps alleviate this situation and provides additional storage space," Meier said. Herbert is less affected because we have only a few vessels calling in Japan, and most of them are provided by our partners. "

However, one often changes the rotation of vessels in Tokyo, Yokohama and Shimizu to avoid delays caused by ships coming together. In addition, one is also advancing the departure time of vessels calling in Tokyo and Nagoya by at least one day.

One data shows that this will affect the ships operating the Far East Pacific, the Japanese Strait and Malaysia routes. The vessels affected in the next few days included 8212-teu one hamburg and 8084-teu conti request, which served the Far East Pacific route 1, and the two ships, NYK Diana and Bear Mountain Bridge, on the Japan Strait Malaysia route.

02 empty container increase yard congestion, the already tight supply chain in Australia has been hit

It is reported that Sydney's empty container storage area is full, which further hindered Australia's already tense supply chain.

Since July, bad weather, changes in shipping schedules and port strikes have exacerbated congestion at Australian ports.

Last month, Sila global, a local freight forwarder, said Sydney's yards were "full and on the verge of collapse" and said in an email to customers that the situation was getting worse and that most of the port yards would be forced to close.

"In this case, we will not be able to withdraw the container until the congestion is eliminated, which will bring additional costs to the importer," the freight forwarder said

"Ship scheduling is still a big problem, and vehicle booking systems and performance issues, the recently upgraded Patrick terminals terminal strike, and the issue of cancelling stacking to the terminal make the situation more complicated."

"It is not clear how long the closure may last or when the congestion will ease."

Similar problems exist in Melbourne, which is under blockade, where container terminals are becoming more and more crowded.

"The integrity of the delivery schedule and the latest changes remain challenging," Sila said. This not only puts extra pressure on Sydney, but also puts pressure on the container terminal in Melbourne, where many companies choose to divert their ships to Melbourne instead of Sydney. "

Sila said DP world expects a large number of vessels to dock in the next two weeks, Patrick's operations will be hampered by the strike, and vict's containers will have to wait two to three days to pick up.

In Sydney, ACFs port logistics added 4500 TEU of empty containers near port botany last month.

03 Los Angeles port congestion: truck drivers or strikes

Although the U.S. holiday season has not yet arrived, due to the preparation for November and December shopping months in advance, sellers are trying to find ways to replenish and stock up. The momentum of the freight peak season begins to appear, and the port congestion is becoming more and more serious.

With the increase of the number of containers out of the container, now the shipping space is bursting, the trailer is tense, and the container dumping is serious, and the sea freight is growing continuously. It is understood that a lot of Amazon's goods are overstocked in the Los Angeles warehouse, and the processing center is overloaded.

A person familiar with the matter said that due to the large number of goods sent to Los Angeles by sea, the port and wharf were congested, and truck drivers were in short supply. 

A person familiar with the matter said that due to the large number of goods sent to Los Angeles by sea, the port and wharf were congested, and truck drivers were in short supply. Due to more goods and fewer drivers, the supply and demand of trucks in Los Angeles is in a state of extreme imbalance. The long-distance truck freight in August has soared to an all-time high.

To make matters worse, the United States Trucking Association (ATA) Multimodal Transport Association (IMCC) filed a lawsuit against foreign shipping companies for "illegal acts.".

"This situation has to come to an end, and after several attempts to reach a mutually beneficial solution, we now ask the FMC to solve this problem," Sullivan said. Otherwise, truck drivers will plan a strike.

04 Nigeria loses $55 million a day due to port congestion

According to the latest report by dynanmar, a Dutch consulting firm, the widespread congestion in Nigeria's ports costs the country about $55 million (about 20.8 billion naira) a day.

According to dynanmar, there are a variety of solutions to Nigeria's port congestion, which must include a cooperative factor.

Dynanmar is concerned about the continued congestion in Nigeria's ports, but stakeholders are busy blaming others rather than developing solutions.

Darron wadey, senior shipping analyst and consultant at dynanmar, said: "it's a complex problem, there's no single cause, so there's no single solution. As a result, solutions need to come together to address all the issues raised. "

Services have been transferred from tin can and APAPA ports in Lagos to the port in black point, Republic of Congo, 1500 km south of Lagos, and then back to Nigeria, according to the report. Even shipping companies such as CMA CGM and Maersk Line, which have vessels calling at Lagos port, have changed the route of their cargoes, as the weekly shipping delays are close to 30 days.

The diversion services include the joint services of Dafei and Maersk, the joint services of few2 and MIDAS / mesawa from the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent. Both services were transferred to black point.

05 Manila port congestion: more than 40 ships per day

Recently, Roger storey, general manager of CF sharp crew management, a Philippine seafarer dispatch company, said in an interview with IHS maritime safety, a shipping media:

At present, there are serious traffic jams in Manila port. More than 40 ships sail to Manila every day for seafarers to change shifts. The average waiting time of ships exceeds one day, which leads to serious congestion in the port.

If the schedule is tight, it will be impossible for seafarers to change shifts to stay in Manila port, because even if weather permits, the average stay of the ship may exceed two days. Therefore, shipowners and Charterers must consider the possible commercial impact.

According to Philippine media reports, the Philippines is trying to position itself as a seafarer shift center. In addition to the Manila mentioned above, the country has added three more ports for seafarers to change shifts. The ports of panila, capinpin and Subic Bay have all been allowed to become crew change places. In addition, other ports in the country, including Cebu, Davao and badangas, may soon be approved for international crew changes.

The Philippines is showing its emphasis on seafarers from the top of the government. The country is seizing the opportunity of changing shifts caused by the epidemic situation to build itself into a global seafarer shift center, so as to further achieve the purpose of exporting its own seafarers.

06 Lagos port congestion: ships waiting 50 days

Dynamar publishes regional reports throughout the year, and the team's latest analysis of West Africa shows that traffic congestion, especially in Nigerian ports, continues, but stakeholders are busy blaming others rather than developing solutions.

Services have been transferred from APAPA port in Lagos to a port 1500 km south of Lagos in black point, Republic of Congo, and then transferred back to Nigeria. Even carriers such as CMA, CGM and Maersk Line, which call at Lagos port, have shifted the goods, because the weekly service delay is close to 30 days.

"It is reported that the waiting time for vessels in Lagos port has reached 50 (50) days, and it is said that about 1000 container truck exports are stranded on the roadside of the port," said wadi, senior shipping analyst and consultant of dynamar

The port authority of Nigeria (NPA) has accused the APM terminal, which operates APAPA terminal in Lagos, for lack of container handling equipment, which has resulted in a backlog of goods at the port.

Previously, the guardian interviewed relevant workers in Nigeria's Wharf, and learned that in Nigeria, the terminal fee is about 457 US dollars, the freight is 374 US dollars, and the local freight from the port to the warehouse is about 2050 US dollars. A report from SBM in South Africa also shows that goods from South Africa and Nigeria are more expensive.

07 Algeria: Port Congestion Surcharge change

At present, the strike in bejaya port lasted for 19 days on August. However, the current berthing sequence of ships in the port is seriously congested between 7 and 10 days, with the following impacts:

1. Delay the delivery time of the arriving vessel;

2. The frequency of empty equipment reassembly / replacement is affected;

3. Increase of operation cost;

As a result, the port stipulates that ships from all over the world to bejaya are required to submit congestion surcharges at a standard rate of US $100 / 85 per box. The application date starts from August 24, 2020.