Under the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the global shipping industry is facing its biggest dilemma in 65 years. According to data from the German Seaexplorer ship monitoring platform on the 24th, as many ports on all continents are facing operational interruptions, there are currently about 362 container ships blocked in the port queue around the world, more than twice the number earlier this year. Shipping problems have caused inventory shortages, delayed deliveries and increased prices of goods.
According to the latest data from the signal platform of the Port of Los Angeles on the 24th, there are currently 22 container ships waiting for berth at the Southern California anchorage, 14 ships waiting outside the port, and 36 ships waiting. The average waiting time for berth has increased from one week. The previous 6.2 days have increased to 7.6 days, and the waiting time can be as long as 12 days. This "ship jam" phenomenon has led to shortages of goods in many places, delays in logistics, and rising prices.
According to the data of the Port of Los Angeles, the cargo volume in the 35th and 36th weeks continued to increase substantially. The expected increase in the 36th week is 29.72% higher than that of the 35th week. The relief is still not optimistic!
At the same time, on the east coast of the United States, truck transportation was also delayed for about two weeks, resulting in extended container detention. Data show that the average detention time of US containers has increased by 35%, which is equivalent to a 35% reduction in available capacity. The long detention of containers has further exacerbated the increasingly serious shortage of chassis in the Midwest and Northeast of the United States. In addition, railway congestion has also caused delays in the delivery of imported goods from the United States, making it difficult for empty containers to quickly return to Asia.
Shipping companies re-deploy more capacity to Auckland and Tacoma
Shipping companies looking for alternatives outside of the congested Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are beginning to put more capacity on Oakland (recovering after months of congestion) and Seattle-Tacoma, despite the large scale of the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA). Some terminals have also tended to be congested recently
Trans-Pacific shipping companies will pin their hopes on the already busy Auckland terminal and the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) to ease the pressure on imports during the peak season.
SSA Marine, which operates container terminals in Seattle, Oakland and Long Beach, said that as the eastbound trans-Pacific route enters the traditional peak season, the three west coast gateways have set new records for imports. But the biggest operational problem of these three ports so far is that importers use the shipping terminal as a storage yard, so the stay time is too long.
"Across the coast, the same problem. Imported goods cannot be picked up in time. This is a big problem." Ed DeNike, president of SSA Containers, said at the same time that imports may increase further in the next three months if importers go according to plan. Pick up the container within a few days of unloading, instead of parking it for a week or longer, then the terminal operator can handle the freight volume.
According to data from PIERS under IHS Markit, from January to July, Seattle-Tacoma's imports from Asia increased by 37.5% year-on-year and 12.9% year-on-year before the outbreak in 2019. Auckland's Asian imports increased by 21.6% over 2020 and 17.8% over the same period from January to July 2019. A comparison with 2019 shows that although import growth is impressive, it should not be due to import growth alone causing general congestion in West Coast ports.
There are still ship queuing and railway problems in the Northwestern United States
NWSA Chief Operating Officer Thomas Bellerud said that NWSA has a total of 10 container ships berthed at the wharf waiting to be berthed recently, eight are at Pier 18 (T-18) in Seattle, and the other two are at Husky and Washington in Tacoma. United Wharf.
The T-18 terminal operated by SSA has remained "stable" in the past few weeks after congestion problems occurred in the spring and early summer of this year. Tacoma's terminal has been in a state of excess capacity throughout the spring, and with the increase in throughput during the peak season, it is now approaching capacity.
The main problem in Seattle and Tacoma is that due to the rapid full load of warehouses, the long detention time of local containers, and the shortage of intermodal transport capacity, the detention time of railway containers is prolonged. The SIG yard operated by the T-18 and BNSF railways, in addition to emptying the backlog of railway containers in recent months, also needs more railway carriages to handle the current traffic volume. The central and western regions are overwhelmed, experiencing congestion and chassis shortages.
The port managers of Auckland and NWSA said that although all terminals are busy handling near-record container volumes, the port has been keeping in touch with carriers seeking additional space. The carrier intends to deploy additional loading vessels during the peak season. Some carriers said that if they can ensure enough vessels, they are willing to change the temporary vessel call to a weekly service.
