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Stakeholders say choked NY-NJ marine terminals creating delays at port

Marine terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey are seeing bouts of severe congestion due to a variety of factors that include heavy import volumes, holiday scheduling and bad weather. The congestion is currently making it difficult for truckers to return empty containers and puts shippers at risk for late fees on empty returns and import retrievals.

Hapag-Lloyd said in an operational update Monday that “ongoing terminal congestion in the New York/New Jersey area [is] impacting carriers, terminals, depots, truckers and customers industry-wide.” The ocean carrier said it is looking for additional storage sites for containers and waiving late fees on boxes in the hope that “fluidity will be restored in the coming weeks.”

Hapag-Lloyd’s advisory follows a poll released last week by the New Jersey-based Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers that showed close to two-thirds of drayage truckers believe the empty return situation at the port is a “crisis that must be addressed immediately.”

“Marine terminals are packed to the gills with empties,” Bi-State Motor Carriers President Lisa Yakomin told the Journal of Commerce.

The majority of truckers polled by Bi-State said they are unable to get appointments to return empty containers or complete a “double move” to retrieve an import container due to restrictions on returning empties.

Most truckers also reported that shippers are incurring extra chassis charges and late fees for storing empties and the congestion is hampering truckers from retrieving imports.

The congestion hits as the NY-NJ port comes off a strong year of growth. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) reported 11% year-over-year growth in import volumes for 2024, its busiest year since 2021.

The volume of imports at the port appears to have built up strongly last month, crowding out room for empties. The average weekly inventory of import containers at NY-NJ reached 31,933 in January, compared with about 25,000 in both December and November, according to PANYNJ data.

The dwell time on import containers averaged 3.9 days during January, up from an average of 3.5 days during December and November. The standard terminal tariff at NY-NJ provides four days of free time on an import, suggesting shippers are running closer to incurring demurrage due to the delays.

Details please refer to JOC news.

Source:

Angell, M. (2025, February 11). Stakeholders say choked NY-NJ marine terminals creating delays at port. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/stakeholders-say-choked-ny-nj-marine-terminals-creating-delays-at-port-5942356

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ILA officials to meet next week as ratification of USMX deal looms

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) next week is expected to start a month-long process of selling its members on the new collective bargaining agreement with maritime employers. The process ends two years of fraught labor negotiations and now ensures six years of labor peace at US East and Gulf coast ports.

Three sources familiar with the situation have told the Journal of Commerce the ILA will convene a midweek meeting in Florida of its local wage scale committees across the 14 ports under its jurisdiction.

The meeting will be called to review terms of the six-year agreement on a new master contract after four days of talks in New Jersey.

The wage scale committees will then present terms of the coastwide master contract, along with port-specific contracts, to local union members. A full vote by the roughly 45,000 registered ILA members at East and Gulf coast ports is expected to take place near the end of February, with March the first full pay period under the new agreement.

The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) board of directors reportedly approved the contract during a vote Wednesday, according to the sources.

Both the ILA and USMX declined to comment on the ratification process.

Source:

Angell, M. (2025, January 31). ILA officials to meet next week as ratification of USMX deal looms. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ila-officials-to-meet-next-week-as-ratification-of-usmx-deal-looms-5934580

 

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Vancouver braces for congestion, high rail dwells through January

Port of Vancouver stakeholders expect they will have to navigate at least three more weeks of congestion as Canada’s largest port works to clear a backlog of rail containers that built up in December.

A confluence of factors — including vessel bunching at Asian load ports, a pre-Lunar New Year cargo surge, a strike by dockworker foremen in November and shorter trains due to winter operating conditions — combined to cause congestion at the port and reduce Vancouver’s railcar availability last month. As a result, the average rail container dwell time at the port’s four container terminals spiked to 6.9 days in December — the highest since last March – and up from 5.2 days in November and 4.5 days in October, according to data on the port’s website.

“We are seeing an increase in the number of vessels waiting to enter the Port of Vancouver due to arrival delays associated with winter weather in Asia and the seasonal pre-Lunar New Year impact causing a surge in volume,” a spokesperson for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. “As such, we anticipate that high on-dock times will continue for the rest of January.”

Terminal operators and the railroads say they are chipping away at the rail container backlog and note conditions will improve further at the end of the month when import volumes are expected to drop significantly due to many factories in Asia closing for a week or two for the Lunar New Year celebrations that start Jan. 29.

Train restrictions during Canadian cold snap

Canadian National Railway (CN) in December was already recovering from a backlog of rail containers from the dockworkers’ strike and vessel bunching when a cold snap in Western Canada resulted in operating restrictions, including running shorter trains, that impacted CN’s network velocity, a CN spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce.

“CN is working closely with the port operators to clear out these volumes as the vessel discharge normalizes over the next three weeks,” a spokesperson for the railroad said. “We are already seeing some improvements and are confident that the dwell metric will fall back to normal levels as we catch up on the backlog over the next few weeks.”

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) said Thursday its railcars are cycling efficiently through its network and that the supply of cars is good. Demand is forecast to remain strong through January, a CPKC spokesperson said.

DP World Canada, which operates the Centerm terminal in Vancouver, said it is working with the railroads to handle the increased import volumes leading up to the Lunar New Year on Jan. 29.

“We should be back to normal in a few weeks,” said CEO Doug Smith.

Meanwhile, the elevated rail container dwell times at the marine terminals have not had an impact on drayage operations in Vancouver, said David Earle, CEO of the British Columbia Trucking Association. The only change Earle said he’s noted in recent days is that a small number of inbound containers that had been booked to leave the terminals by rail are being redirected to long-haul truckers for movement inland.

Prince Rupert back to normal

The Port of Prince Rupert, which faced challenges similar to Vancouver last month, saw its rail container dwell times spike to an average of nearly 10 days in mid-December, said Brian Friesen, vice president of trade development at the port. The average dwell dropped to 6.1 days for the week of Dec. 20 and has continued to slide in January.

“The dwells are now below two days,” Friesen said. “It’s all fluid now.”

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2025, January 9). Vancouver braces for congestion, High Rail dwells through January. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/vancouver-braces-for-congestion-high-rail-dwells-through-january-5919982

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ILA, USMX reach tentative deal that avoids another port strike

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) late Wednesday said they have reached a tentative agreement on a new master contract that covers ports from Maine to Texas. While the deal needs approval from ILA locals and USMX members, it avoids another port strike and ensures shippers of labor peace along the US East and Gulf coasts for the next six years.

The ILA and the USMX said in separate statements the agreement includes language that covers the contentious issue of port automation and new technologies. While the draft language of the tentative agreement was not available, one source said that marine terminals will have some leeway in implementing new technologies in return for more longshore jobs.

Talks on a new master contract broke down in November due to the union’s concerns about the impact on jobs from the use of semi-automated rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) at marine terminals.

“This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports — making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong,” the statement said.

Details of the agreement were not publicly disclosed, pending final approval by both sides.

The deal was reached a week before a Jan. 15 strike deadline that was set in October at the end of the three-day ILA strike that was settled with an agreement on wages.

The 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports will work under the current contract until the tentative agreement is ratified by the wage-scale committees of local unions. But sources indicate that the locals are likely to support the contract negotiated by ILA President Harold Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett.

The breakthrough came after four days of talks in Teaneck, New Jersey, on a new master contract. Those talks included side discussions on the impact of new technology on longshore jobs, ahead of broader talks that restarted on Jan. 7 that covered benefits and specific longshore crafts such as checkers and clerks.

In December, the union enlisted President-elect Donald Trump to advocate on behalf of their stance against automation. On Wednesday, the ILA issued its own statement thanking Trump for his “bold stance [that] helped prevent a second coastwide strike.”

“President Trump clearly demonstrated his unwavering support for our ILA union and longshore workers with his statement ‘heard round the world’ backing our position to protect American longshore jobs against the ravages of automated terminals,” Harold Daggett said in the statement.

Source:

Angell, M. (2025, January 8). Ila, USMX reach tentative deal that avoids another port strike. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-reach-tentative-deal-that-avoids-another-port-strike-5919519

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ILA, USMX contract talks set for Jan. 7 restart ahead of strike deadline: sources

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are set to resume talks for a new master contract on Jan. 7, sources said Tuesday.

The scheduled resumption of negotiations leaves a small window before the current contract extension runs out on Jan. 15 and a likely second strike by the ILA hits ports along the US East and Gulf coasts.

The ILA and USMX declined to comment on the status of talks that affect 45,000 dockworkers.

While the ILA and USMX have come to terms on wages for a new master contract, the formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November. The union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the new master contract will include about port automation.

The ILA has taken a hard line against automation technology at ports under its jurisdiction. It singled out semi-automated rail mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) as a technology that it wants to bar from further implementation at East and Gulf coast ports under the new contract. The USMX countered that technology, including RMGs, boosts port productivity and creates more opportunities for longshore workers.

Progress on the talks have been further complicated by the attention of President-elect Donald Trump, who sided with the ILA’s stance against automation.

Source:

Angell, M. (2024, December 31). Ila, USMX contract talks set for Jan. 7 restart ahead of strike deadline: Sources. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-contract-talks-set-for-jan-7-restart-ahead-of-strike-deadline-sources-5913854

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Yang Ming to order slate of new container ships in move to upgrade fleet

Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport will order up to 13 container ships as part of fleet optimization plans approved by the carrier’s directors Friday to replace aging vessels and expand the fleet of owned ships.

The new ships will vary in size between 8,000 TEUs and 15,000 TEUs and are likely meant for deployment on longer-haul intra-Asia and mainline east-west services.

The newbuilds are part of Yang Ming’s efforts to “optimize [our] service network and enhance fleet competitiveness,” the carrier said in a statement.

The vessels will replace 5,500- and 6,500-TEU ships that are more than 20 years old, the carrier said. Yang Ming currently operates six of that class that are 20 years and older, with a further five ships that will reach that milestone when the new vessels are likely delivered.

Yang Ming said it will evaluate energy-saving technologies and study clean energy fuel options for likely use in the new ships before orders are placed with shipyards. The ships will allow the carrier to “provide customers worldwide with more environmentally friendly transportation solutions,” it said.

The carrier gave no details of the cost or likely delivery dates of the new ships. But the fleet renewal plan comes as Yang Ming is expecting an increase both in the number of services and frequency of sailings once its Premier Alliance partnership is launched with Ocean Network Express (ONE) and HMM in February.

Yang Ming said the number of services will increase by three to 28 with new loops from Asia to Europe, Mediterranean and Pacific Southwest, while the frequency will also increase on those trades.

The carrier has also announced a raft of new services in the last few weeks. These include an India Ocean Express (ISE) service announced Friday connecting western India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to North Europe. It will be operated in partnership with HMM and inaugurated on Feb. 5.

Yang Ming said last week it would begin a China-Thailand Express (CTE) service with OOCL from early January to strengthen their competitiveness in the intra-Asia market.

Source:

Wallis, K. (2024, December 20). Yang Ming to order slate of new container ships in move to upgrade fleet. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/yang-ming-to-order-slate-of-new-container-ships-in-move-to-upgrade-fleet-5909702

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Lunar cargo rush, poor weather clog major Asia ports

A pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush and bad weather causing vessel bunching are congesting major Asian ports, leading to berthing delays of up to five days, carriers and forwarders said.

The worst affected ports include Shanghai, Tokyo, Ningbo, Busan and Manila, although the length of the delays varies by container line, shipping executives told the Journal of Commerce. The congestion comes as European and North American shippers rush imports ahead of factory activity slowing down for 15 days of Lunar New Year celebrations starting Jan. 29.

Ocean Network Express said it is facing operational constraints in Tokyo because the port is “at full capacity” and berths are congested at its capital port and others in Japan, impacting intra-Asia services along with those operating the major east-west trades.

Congestion is also affecting other ports in Japan, which is affecting intra-Asia and east-west services, the carrier’s sailing schedules showed last week.

The carrier has been forced to skip calls at Keelung and Kaohsiung by the 1,708-TEU Swan River Bridge operating on its Japan-Vietnam-Haiphong service to help restore schedule reliability after the ship was five days late berthing at Tokyo last week.

Forwarders said the delays in Tokyo and other ports in Japan have been largely caused by a pre-holiday cargo rush before ports and shipping company offices close from Dec. 27 for the New Year festive break. They are not scheduled to re-open until Jan. 6, carriers said.

“In Tokyo, we are closely monitoring terminal operations as year-end closures approach. ONE has plans in place to minimize potential impacts on our services,” a spokesperson for the carrier told the Journal of Commerce.

Congestion extends to northern China

Shanghai and Ningbo are affected by weather-related delays including strong winds and fog. The current delays have been compounded in Shanghai after its Yangshan deep-water port, about 20 miles offshore from Pudong, had to close due to typhoon Kong-rey in early November.

Kuehne + Nagel said there was heavy berth congestion in Yangshan with ships either delayed or having to wait up to five days last week due to the earlier typhoon-related closure. ONE said the delays at Yangshan were also caused by high yard density.

At Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao container terminals in Pudong about 20 miles from downtown Shanghai, the average seven-day vessel waiting time is nearly three days due to heavy berth congestion at all terminals, according to K+N’s visibility platform SeaExplorer.

“Ningbo is facing approximately 1.5 days of waiting time, mainly caused by peak season congestion and weather factors,” the ONE spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce.

“The situation is improving at Shanghai and Ningbo after the typhoon, but the seasonal weather is causing delays, which is typical for this time of year,” the spokesperson added.

ONE also highlighted port-congestion-related delays at Busan, Manila and Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for service disruption and delayed sailings.

FIBS Logistics said Busan is experiencing berthing waits of approximately two days due to vessel bunching and ships arriving late from previous ports. OOCL said Busan has had “winter challenges”.

Details please refer to the JOC news.

Source:

Wallis, K. (2024a, December 16). Lunar cargo rush, poor weather clog major Asia Ports. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/lunar-cargo-rush-poor-weather-clog-major-asia-ports-5906170

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Wan Hai to expand US trans-Pacific services with ONE slot charter deal

Wan Hai Lines is planning to expand its trans-Pacific network after agreeing to a slot exchange deal with Ocean Network Express (ONE) on the latter’s Pacific South 6 service linking China with Long Beach and Oakland, the Taiwanese carrier said. The slot exchange will begin in February.

The launch date coincides with the start of services by the Premier Alliance formed by ONE, HMM and Yang Ming Marine Transport to replace THE Alliance following the departure of Hapag-Lloyd to join Maersk in the Gemini Cooperation.

While the launch of the Premier Alliance is now in abeyance after the US Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC’s) announcement Friday that it will stop the partnership from going ahead while it seeks further information to assess the competitive impact, the three carriers can continue their THE Alliance group. The FMC’s agreement with THE Alliance does not expire until April 1, 2030, FMC documents show.

The port rotation given by Wan Hai reflects ONE’s existing PS6 service with calls at Shanghai-Ningbo-Long Beach-Oakland-Shanghai-Ningbo. Wan Hai said the PS6 service will “provide a direct connection from Asia to the US West Coast,” with an express 16- to 18-day transit from Shanghai to Southern California.

It will augment Wan Hai’s two existing services — its trans-Pacific West Coast AP1 service and its around-the-world US East Coast-Asia-America 7 service.

Due to the new PS6 loop, Wan Hai said it will amend the rotation of its AP1 service by dropping Shanghai and Ningbo beginning in February to improve transit times for customers in Vietnam, Taiwan and southern China. The new rotation will be Haiphong-Cai Mep (Vietnam)-Shekou-Xiamen-Taipei-Los Angeles-Oakland-Shekou-Haiphong.

Both the PS6 slot exchange and AP1 service changes are part of Wan Hai’s 2025 trans-Pacific service improvements.

Details please refer to the JOC news.

Source:

Wallis, K. (2024a, December 9). Wan Hai to expand US Trans-Pacific Services with one slot charter deal. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/wan-hai-to-expand-us-trans-pacific-services-with-one-slot-charter-deal-5878644

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Hapag-Lloyd says Gemini alliance cargo bookings to open Dec. 3

Gemini Cooperation, the new Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd alliance, will open cargo bookings beginning Dec. 3, two months before the official Feb. 1 launch of the network, Hapag-Lloyd confirmed Wednesday.

February voyages will be available when the booking portal opens, the carrier said in a customer advisory.

“As our 2025 network will be fully phased in only after the transition from our current THE Alliance network during 2025, not all Gemini Cooperation voyages might be reflected in our schedule yet,” Hapag-Lloyd said.

The carrier’s online schedules only cover vessel arrivals at the destination port up to the end of January, just before Hapag-Lloyd’s membership in THE Alliance ends.

Gemini will provide 56 mainline and shuttle services covering seven east-west trades on a hub-and-spoke network and utilizing about 340 vessels with a total capacity of 3.7 million TEUs.

The Gemini carriers have continued to tweak the network after releasing the final schedule on Oct. 9, which reflected their decision to choose the Cape of Good Hope option for vessel routings to avoid the threat of militant attacks in the Red Sea. The latest change, announced on Nov. 18, was to shift calls from the UK’s Felixstowe port to London Gateway on three Asia-Europe services.

MSC updates east-west network

The news from Gemini came as Mediterranean Shipping Co. released on Wednesday the latest update to its standalone east-west network that will launch in February. The changes feature extra port calls to “optimize our Asia to Europe, US and Canada connectivity,” the carrier said in a customer advisory.

The biggest difference is MSC’s Mustang service connecting Asia to the Northwest US and Canada will be added to its standalone east-west network. The new rotation will be Xiamen–Yantian–Ningbo–Shanghai–Busan–Seattle–Vancouver–Portland–Busan.

Other changes include the addition of calls at Vung Tau and Haiphong in Vietnam on MSC’s Pearl and Chinook services; Nansha on its Asia-Europe Lion and Dragon services; Yantian (westbound) and Yokohama in place of Busan on its Swan-Sentosa service; and Busan (westbound) on its Asia-US Orient and Lonestar services.

MSC has also added a call at Vizhinjam in India on its Asia-Europe Jade service, with Colombo also added to both its Britannia service connecting Asia and North Europe and its eastbound America service between the US East Coast and Asia.

MSC’s Albatross service will now feature two calls in the UK, with London Gateway added after Felixstowe, which will remain the first call in Europe from Asia.

MSC said its standalone east-west network together with its existing Asia export services will “provide unmatched continental trade connectivity with Asia through a vast array of loops, competitive transit times and a high frequency of direct port calls.”

Source:

Wallis, K. (2024, November 27). Hapag-Lloyd says Gemini Alliance cargo bookings to open Dec. 3. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/hapag-lloyd-says-gemini-alliance-cargo-bookings-to-open-dec-3-5846853

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BC, Montreal ports set to reopen under orders from Canada’s labor chief

Canada’s Labor Minister on Tuesday took direct action to end coast-to-coast port closures by ordering binding arbitration in contract disputes between maritime employers and longshore workers, forcing ports to reopen.

Steve MacKinnon said in a statement that he has invoked authority under Canada’s labor code that will force longshore unions in British Columbia and Montreal and their respective employer groups to come to terms on new collective bargaining agreements with the aid of a government arbitrator.

In advance of the arbitration proceedings, MacKinnon also said his agency will order the reopening of ports in those jurisdictions, with previously expired longshore contracts being extended in the interim.

“I have directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board [CIRB] to order the resumption of all operations and functions at the ports, and to assist the parties by imposing final and binding arbitration,” MacKinnon said. “I have also directed the board to extend the term of the existing collective agreements until new ones are reached.”

MacKinnon’s move will end a nearly two-week work stoppage at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert after the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 after its vote for a strike.

The BCMEA tried to end the lockout this weekend through direct talks with Local 514 overseen by government mediators, but those talks did not result in a deal. Maritime employers there have offered Local 514 a 19.2% wage increase over four years, along with a one-time lump sum payment of C$21,000 and a boost to other existing benefits.

The BCMEA said in a statement Tuesday that it “intends to follow direction received from the CIRB and will inform member employers of operational updates as soon as possible.”

“We look forward to safely resuming operations across Canada’s West Coast ports,” the group said.

The coast-to-coast port closures have delayed the discharge and loading of ocean freight and forced Canada’s two main railroads to halt intermodal operations at the affected ports. But there does not appear to be any major disruptions in terms of a high number of anchored ships or severe backlogs at the ports.

 

Maersk said last week that vessels in its TP1 service to Canada’s west coast have remained at berth in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, with other scheduled vessels still en route to both ports. It said that vessels in the carrier’s Canada Express Service, which is jointly operated with CMA CGM, also remain en route to Montreal.

Hapag-Lloyd said in an advisory Tuesday that it has three ships at berth in Montreal currently, with two idling at anchorage in the Saint Lawrence River awaiting the port’s reopening. On the west coast, one ship in THE Alliance’s PN3 service remains at berth in Vancouver, with vessels in other services awaiting a berth. Another vessel in THE Alliance’s PN4 service is waiting outside of Prince Rupert for an available berth, the carrier said.

Details please refer to the JOC news.

Source:

Angell, M. (2024h, November 12). BC, Montreal ports set to reopen under orders from Canada’s Labor chief. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/bc-montreal-ports-set-to-reopen-under-orders-from-canadas-labor-chief-5792214