Ocean carriers are warning of skipped port calls, rerouted cargo and vessel delays on a raft of trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean sailings over the next two weeks in the aftermath of the recent typhoons that have hit China.
The threat of widespread disruption comes on the eve of China’s National Day holiday that starts Wednesday and is expected to last 10 days.
Typhoon Ragasa closed ports in southern China and Taiwan for three days last week, Tropical Storm Mitag affected the Philippines and southeast China in mid-September and Typhoon Tapah struck the same region in early September.
Hapag-Lloyd said its Gemini Cooperation services with partner Maersk are among those affected by the string of tropical cyclones. The most severely impacted are Gemini’s
Pacific Southwest services, WC1 and WC3, with Nansha omitted this week on the trans- Pacific eastbound sailing by Gerd Maersk. Hapag-Lloyd said cargo will be rolled to the next WC1 voyage.
Shanghai will also be omitted this week and next week on Gemini’s WC3 service to recover schedule reliability from delays caused by the typhoons, Hapag-Lloyd said. Sailings affected are those by GSL Lydia this week, with cargo transferred to the WC2 and US2 services, and by Norwalk next week, with cargo shifted to the US2 service operated by Kandla Express and US1 served by CCNI Algol.
The delays follow call omissions last week at Yantian by the Gunvor Maersk due to Typhoon Ragasa. Hapag-Lloyd said cargo for Nansha has been discharged in both Vung Tau in Vietnam and Yantian, and will be carried back the Guangzhou international gateway port in three subsequent sailings.
The carrier said the Dortmund Express operating Gemini’s Asia-US East Coast 1 service was late berthing at Yantian last Friday due to Ragasa after having already omitted Nansha on the same service due to Typhoon Tapah.
Ocean Network Express (ONE) also highlighted delays of up to seven days on its Asia- Mediterranean MS1 and MD2 services due to the storms in the South China Sea. ONE confirmed a four-day delay by ACX Pearl operating its Japan-Straits-Malaysia service due to the disruption at Hong Kong and at Keelung in Taiwan. The carrier also said vessels are being delayed due to Typhoon Neoguri, which affected Japan and South Korea last week.
CMA CGM also warned of vessel delays following port closures at Manila and Subic due to Typhoon Bualoi, which hit the Philippines over the weekend. Delays are also likely at Haiphong after Bualoi made landfall in northern Vietnam Monday, killing at least 30 people and causing extensive flooding.
Congested ports gradually recovering
Ports in south China are gradually recovering from the impact of Ragasa, with Hong Kong back to normal operations, but some Shenzhen terminals are still heavily congested.
“The backlog [at Hong Kong and DaChan Bay] caused by Typhoon Ragasa has already been cleared,” a spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Modern Terminals told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday. A senior executive at a Hong Kong-based forwarder said Shenzhen’s western terminals, including Shekou and Chiwan, are still heavily congested.
“The terminals will remain open during the extended National Day holiday and with factories closed for the holiday, this should provide [the terminals] with some respite to clear the backlog of cargo,” the executive told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday.
Hapag-Lloyd said Shekou is still experiencing berthing delays of four to five days, with a five- to seven-day wait at Yantian.
Source: JOC
