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Bad weather causing delays, congestion at major Asian load ports

Bad weather and resulting congestion at ports in Asia are causing vessel delays of up to a week at key gateways in the region, carriers say.

Hapag-Lloyd said fog is the main problem at ports in China, including Shanghai and Ningbo, while torrential rain and poor visibility were issues in Malaysia and Singapore. An index measuring wait times in harbor, produced by Portcast, shows congestion in Ningbo began rising mid-April.

The adverse conditions meant vessels could not berth even as more ships arrived at anchorage, leading to vessel bunching that exacerbated port congestion. Yard congestion in Singapore also contributed to the delays there, Hapag-Lloyd said in an advisory Thursday.

The delays come on top of the extra 10- to 14-day transit carriers face due to diverting vessels around southern Africa to avoid the risk of attack in the Red Sea region.

One of the worst-affected facilities is the Shanghai East Container Terminal, where there are delays of up to seven days, Maersk said in an advisory this week. Other terminals in Shanghai are seeing delays of up to three days, while Ningbo and Qingdao in eastern and northern China are reporting similar delays, Maersk added.

Hapag-Lloyd said vessels are having to wait up to 80 hours to berth at Port Klang and 72 hours in Singapore.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) confirmed that some ships operating trans-Pacific and intra-Asia services are having sailing schedules disrupted by the bad weather and port congestion.

Highlighting the delays, ONE sailing schedules show the 10,000-TEU Seaspan Bellweather, operating the Asia-Latin America Express 3 service, was two days late at Ningbo. That lengthened to three days when the vessel berthed at Shanghai and then five days when the vessel arrived at the next call, Qingdao, this week. ONE attributed the delays to berth congestion at all three ports.

Source:

Walli, K. (2024, April 26). Bad weather causing delays, congestion at major Asian Load Ports. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/bad-weather-causing-delays-congestion-major-asian-load-ports_20240426.html

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Norfolk expands hours to handle cargo volumes shifted from Baltimore

The Port of Virginia is expanding its operating hours to handle the increased cargo volumes now bypassing the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26.

The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) said the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) terminal and Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) will extend their gates during the week, with new hours being 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. Additionally, VIG will be open on Saturdays from 8 am to 5 pm.

VIG had not been open on any Saturdays this year after having sporadic Saturday hours from 2021 through 2023 to handle occasional spikes in import volumes. NIT will remain closed on Saturdays.

VPA did not put an end date on the expanded hours, only saying it will monitor the Baltimore cargo it handles to determine if truck drivers at some point are able to handle the Baltimore-related cargo during normal weekday hours.

The US Army Corps of Engineers last week said it is planning to reopen Baltimore’s port to vessel traffic on a limited basis by the end of April, with a full reopening hoped for by the end of May.

More than 400 Baltimore-area truck drivers have registered to temporarily operate at the Port of Virginia, according to the VPA. The Maryland drivers will deliver cargo to destinations in Maryland and Pennsylvania normally routed through Baltimore.

“The Maryland-based motor carriers that are coming here to pick up Baltimore-bound cargo have a full day of driving ahead of them and we want this group of drivers to have a safe, efficient, and quick transaction here so they can get back on the road and headed home,” a VPA spokesperson said. “Extending our operating hours is one way of taking an additional step to help out a neighbor.”

The US Department of Transportation offered some relief on April 4, granting an exemption permitting drivers to work an additional two hours of drive time beyond the federal limits if the cargo is connected to the Port of Baltimore closure. Drivers, however, would still not be allowed to exceed 14 hours on roadways.

Norfolk Southern Railway could also serve as a relief valve for diverted cargo because it runs trains to the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, Va. For certain destinations in western Maryland and Pennsylvania, a rail option to Front Royal would reduce the workload on a truck driver.

VPA said there is “a lot of interest in Virginia Inland Port and we expect some additional volume there,” although it’s unclear how may containers will be railed to Front Royal.

Some differences for drivers

Maryland drivers need to be aware of two key differences between the Port of Baltimore and the Port of Virginia.

There is a mandatory appointment system until 4:00 p.m. to pick up or drop off cargo at Norfolk, something Maryland drivers might not be accustomed to because no such requirement exists in Baltimore.

The Port of Virginia also has its own chassis pool, which means if a driver uses the port authority equipment, the individual will have to return the unit back to Norfolk. The driver cannot return a Port of Virginia-branded chassis to Baltimore. However, drivers are permitted to use outside chassis at the Port of Virginia, so they could bring one from Baltimore and use it in Norfolk.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024, April 10). Norfolk expands hours to handle cargo volumes shifted from Baltimore. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/norfolk-expands-hours-handle-cargo-volumes-shifted-baltimore_20240410.html

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Maersk to resume Panama Canal transits on OC1 service as vessel restrictions ease

Maersk will resume transits through the Panama Canal in May on its Ocean-Americas (OC1) service after the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced a slight increase in the number of permitted daily vessel transits through the drought-hit waterway.

The carrier, which announced the move in an advisory Friday, has since January been using the adjacent canal railroad to transfer boxes between terminals on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Maersk said it had been “closely monitoring” the introduction of additional transit slots by the ACP in recent weeks before deciding to shift back to using the canal on its OC1 service. The first northbound canal transit will be by the Maersk Inverness about May 17, while the initial southbound transit will be made by the Spirit of Auckland around May 20.

The OC1 service “will return to its pre-existing rotation that was in place prior to the current two-loop setup established with the Panama Rail connection,” Maersk said. The use of the rail link “will be phased out by the end of May,” the carrier added.

Maersk’s two-loop service involved ships operating between Philadelphia, Charleston and Manzanillo in Panama and Balboa (Panama), Tauranga (New Zealand) and Melbourne (Australia).

Maersk confirmed the new rotation of the single-loop OC1 service via the canal would include calls at Philadelphia, Charleston, Balboa, Melbourne, Port Chalmers (New Zealand), Tauranga, Manzanillo, Cristobal and Cartagena.

Maersk has been using the canal for its other services, a carrier spokesperson said.

Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express confirmed transits through the Panama Canal have been fully restored on their three Asia-US East Coast trans-Pacific services operated under THE Alliance network. That follows a partial shift back to canal transits at the beginning of this year after vessels were diverted via the Cape of Good Hope when drought-related vessel restrictions were at their toughest.

Vessel slots increased

The ACP as of the end of March increased the number of daily vessel slots available through the canal to 27 from 24. That followed an improvement in actual and projected water levels on the Gatun Lake, a chokepoint on the canal system, following heavy rain in the canal watershed.

Drought restrictions had been imposed in the middle of last year, leading to long vessel queues with more than 100 ships waiting to transit the waterway in August.

“ACP may also increase the number of slots offered through auction, depending on the Gatun Lake’s level projections,” the authority said in a statement.

That comes as queue waiting times for both northbound and southbound transits for non-booked vessels are down to less than a day, ACP figures showed Friday. That is a significant improvement from February, when the average wait time for ships without bookings was five days for northbound vessels and four days for southbound vessels.

Some 49 ships, including 41 that have transit bookings, were waiting to pass through the canal Friday, according to ACP data.

Source:

Wallis, K. (2024, April 5). Maersk to resume Panama Canal transits on OC1 service as vessel restrictions ease. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/maersk-resume-panama-canal-transits-oc1-service-vessel-restrictions-ease_20240405.html

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Baltimore preps for limited port reopening by end of April

The Port of Baltimore is preparing workarounds to start handling containers and other ocean freight on a limited basis within the next four weeks ahead of a planned full reopening to vessel traffic by the end of May. The expedited reopening marks a rapid recovery for Baltimore following the vessel collision and bridge collapse that closed its main shipping channel early last week.

Meanwhile, other ports along the US East Coast continue to process diverted Baltimore-bound cargo with little to no impact on their operations. Even so, ocean carriers are pushing diversion-related fees onto shippers during Baltimore’s closure.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said in a statement Thursday it expects to clear the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge from Baltimore’s 50-foot-deep shipping channel by the end of May, “restoring port access to normal capacity.”

It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of the March 26 collision of the 9,962-TEU Dali into the bridge how long it would take for the port to reopen. Gen. Scott Spellmon said in the statement the USACE now has “a better understanding of the immense and complex work” of removing the 4,000 tons of debris resting on top of the Dali, allowing it to be refloated.

“A fully opened federal channel remains our primary goal,” Spellmon said. “These are ambitious timelines that may still be impacted by significant adverse weather conditions or changes in the complexity of the wreckage.”

Ahead of the full reopening, the USACE said it will open a 35-foot-deep channel by the end of April that will support one-way vessel traffic into Baltimore harbor. That channel will support the restart of a container-on-barge service offered by Columbia Coastal Transport that shuttles between the Port of Virginia, which has been receiving ships diverted from Baltimore, and Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore.

The service uses two US-flagged barges of approximately 900-TEU capacity. Transit time from Norfolk to Baltimore is approximately two days.

In addition, the 35-foot channel will allow some roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) vessels to resume calls at Baltimore. Baltimore’s Dundalk Marine Terminal and Fairfield Marine Terminal, which handle the bulk of the Baltimore’s ro/ro vessels, are also cut off to vessel traffic, forcing ro/ro vessels to divert to the TradePoint Atlantic logistics facility located outside the port’s inner harbor.

The container-on-barge service would complement inter-port rail services that are moving Baltimore-bound ocean containers diverted to the Port of New York and New Jersey back to Seagirt for local pickup. Norfolk Southern is working on a similar service that will bring ocean containers to Virginia’s Front Royal inland port, where they can be trucked into Maryland.

Details please refer to JOC news.

Source:

Angell, M. (2024, April 5). Baltimore preps for limited port reopening by end of April. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/baltimore-preps-limited-port-reopening-end-april_20240405.html

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Red Sea crisis prompts THE Alliance to delay restart of Asia-USEC service

THE Alliance on Wednesday said it was postponing the planned restart of a service between Asia and the US East Coast due to the ongoing threats against vessels transiting the Red Sea. The decision underscores that ship diversions around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope will likely last through at least the first half of 2024, if not longer.

Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express (ONE) said in a statement that THE Alliance’s East Coast 4 (EC4) service from Asia will not restart as previously announced. The service was suspended last year due to plummeting freight rates.

The first voyage on the restarted EC4 from Taiwan’s Kaohsiung port was scheduled for mid-April on the 14,080-TEU YM Warmth, which was expected to arrive at the Port of Norfolk on May 25. The EC4 service spans ports in Taiwan, southern China, Vietnam and Singapore, with US calls at Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston and New Jersey.

The carriers said the EC4, which transited the Suez Canal on its westbound voyage leg, will be postponed “until the situation in the Red Sea has stabilized.”

The 13 vessels in the EC4 service will be deployed to THE Alliance’s three other Asia-US East Coast services, which will each add other Asian and US port calls in the absence of the EC4 service.

Increased naval presence

Just since March 1, there have been 11 attacks against commercial ships transiting the Red Sea in the vicinity of Yemen, according to the Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Houthi militants operating in Yemen have been launching regular attacks on vessels since last November, forcing ships to divert around southern Africa.

The attacks come despite an increase in Western naval presence in the Red Sea aimed at thwarting the Houthis. The European Union announced a combined naval operation called “Aspides” that began in mid-February, joining the US Navy-led Operation Prosperity Garden.

Even with the increased naval presence, Houthi militants have successfully sunk two ships in that period, the general cargo ship Rubymar and the bulk carrier True Confidence, the latter resulting in the deaths of three seafarers on March 7. In response, international seafarers’ unions designated the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as “warlike” areas and called on all carriers to avoid transits there.

Along with THE Alliance, Maersk said in a March 22 customer advisory that it has no plans to resume Suez Canal transits because “the risk level in the region remains elevated.”

Source:

Angell, M. (2024a, April 3). Red Sea crisis prompts the alliance to delay restart of Asia-USEC service. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/red-sea-crisis-prompts-alliance-delay-restart-asia-usec-service_20240403.html

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Lack of progress in Canadian rail talks raises possibility of May strike

A stalemate over a new collective bargaining agreement for Canadian rail conductors and engineers has set the stage for vote by union members that could result in a strike notice being issued next month.

The workers, represented by the Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference (TCRC), will vote from April 8 to May 1 on whether to authorize a strike against Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) as soon as May 22.

A strike could halt intermodal service to and from all containerized marine terminals in Canada, affecting about 50,000 TEUs per week in imports, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data submitted to the Association of American Railroads and Intermodal Association of North America.

Negotiations between the railroads and the TCRC have hit a stumbling block over salary and mandatory rest periods. The Teamsters represent more than 9,000 conductors and engineers — 6,000 at CN and 3,200 at CPKC.

“With the prior collective bargaining agreement, we took one step forward,” a TCRC spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “Now our sense of the negotiations is that both rail companies are trying to take us three steps backwards.”

Talks between the sides are continuing with a federal conciliator who can broker a deal up until May 1, when a 21-day cooling off period begins before any strike could occur. The union would then have to issue a 72-hour strike notice to the two Canadian railroads.

CN and CPKC say they have made proposals varying in length that will ensure conductors and engineers receive competitive wages, are well rested and have a proper work-life balance.

“[Our offer will provide for] higher income and more predictable work-life balance by shifting to a predictable scheduling model with assigned days off,” a CPKC spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “The time-based model would modernize the collective agreement with 21st century practices … The existing collective agreement is more than 440 pages; it could be reduced to approximately 100 pages.”

CPKC has two offers on the table: one that would simplify the prior collective bargaining agreement and a second offer that would “maintain the status of the quo” within rules established last year by Transport Canada.

CN also offered a deal to switch salary from a per-mile basis to an hourly wage.

“If our trains run on a schedule and our interactions with our customers run on a schedule, why shouldn’t employees benefit from running on a schedule as well?” a spokesperson for CN said. “We believe that by offering stable and predictable schedules with wage increases that would be paid hourly, we would be improving the quality of life of our railroaders and improve safety.

“Furthermore, by moving to scheduled work, employees would know well in advance when they work and when they take time off,” the spokesperson added.

Details please refer to JOC news.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024a, April 2). Lack of progress in Canadian rail talks raises possibility of may strike. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/lack-progress-canadian-rail-talks-raises-possibility-may-strike_20240402.html