Congestion! Maersk issues another port-hopping notice and is wary of continuous dumping of goods

It has been more than a week since Typhoon 'White Dolphin' passed through. Although Shanghai Port has resumed terminal operations, port congestion has not subsided. As of August 17, the average waiting time for ships in Shanghai Port is still more than 4 days, and the process of digesting the backlog of shipping capacity is still slow.

Just before the port has fully returned to normal operations, Maersk once again issued a port-hopping notice, canceling the planned call at Shanghai Port for some voyages. For cargo owners and freight forwarders who have recently made arrangements for importing and exporting goods at Shanghai Port, the risks of shipping delays, port hopping and continuous dumping of containers still require high attention.

Affected by Typhoon 'White Dolphin', many major container port areas in East China temporarily suspended or restricted operations. After the typhoon, although the terminals gradually resumed operations, the large backlog of cargo and delayed ships that had been formed were difficult to digest in the short term. On the one hand, the port needs to handle the cargo and berthed ships accumulated during the typhoon; on the other hand, the normal volume of inbound cargo continues to increase. The superposition of the two cargo flows puts great pressure on the port to resume its normal operating rhythm.

This situation is basically consistent with the previous judgment of Linerlytica, a shipping data agency. The agency issued a report on August 11 stating that due to the impact of the typhoon, more than 2.4 million TEU shipping capacity was delayed in North Asia, especially the Chinese market, and the backlog of ships is expected to take several weeks to gradually clear. Judging from the current operation situation of Shanghai Port, the digestion of the backlog of transportation capacity is still in progress. According to data from Kuehne + Nagel's global port data platform K+N seaexplorer, as of August 16, Shanghai Port was still in a state of severe operational disruption. The average seven-day waiting time for ships was approximately 4.42 days, and the port entry and exit efficiency had not yet returned to normal levels.

While the congestion at Shanghai Port has not yet eased, Maersk once again issued a port-hopping notice involving Shanghai Port. The announcement shows that due to the recent severe weather, the two voyages SEASPAN GUAYAQUIL 627N/632S and AS CALIFORNIA 628N/633S will cancel the originally scheduled call at Shanghai Port to minimize delays to subsequent voyages. For cargo originally planned to be loaded and unloaded at Shanghai Port through the above-mentioned voyages, Maersk stated that it has arranged to carry it through alternative routes or other voyages. This means that the shipping schedule, port of call and subsequent transportation arrangements originally determined by the cargo owner may change.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Maersk has recently adjusted its Shanghai port call due to weather factors. Since the end of July, Maersk has issued relevant notices many times to remind customers to pay attention to the impact of the typhoon, and to cancel the planned Shanghai port call of some voyages in advance. Coupled with the recent long-term adjustments to the Dragon route, Maersk has recently made many port-hopping announcements involving Shanghai Port. This shows that the impact of the typhoon on ports and shipping schedules did not end immediately as the weather improved, and its subsequent effects are still continuing to show.

The most direct impact of port hopping on cargo owners is that the original loading and unloading port changes, and the goods may be adjusted to other voyages or alternative transportation options. However, it should be noted that Maersk's announcement of port jumping does not mean that only its own customers are affected. At present, a large number of container routes adopt the alliance shared space cooperation model, and different shipping companies may jointly invest in transportation capacity and space on a route. Therefore, if a certain voyage has a port jump, cargo owners of other cooperative shipping companies who purchased the Shanghai port space on this voyage through a co-space agreement may also be affected.

In other words, if a ship does not call at Shanghai Port, it may affect the cargo of multiple shipping companies on the entire route. Cargo originally planned to be loaded in Shanghai may have to wait for subsequent voyages, and cargo originally planned to be unloaded in Shanghai may also face route adjustments. When the port itself is already in a state of congestion, combined with port hopping, voyage adjustments and cargo re-staging, cargo owners are not only faced with dumping containers in one ship, but some goods may even have to wait for two or more voyages.

At present, although Shanghai Port has resumed terminal operations, the backlog formed during the typhoon still needs time to be digested. Port congestion, ship waiting and route adjustments are intertwined, making the actual shipping schedule of Shanghai Port-related cargo still facing great uncertainty in the near future.

For cargo owners who have recently made arrangements for importing and exporting goods at Shanghai Port, it is recommended to promptly verify the following information with the cooperative freight forwarder: whether the ship is calling at Shanghai Port normally, whether the actual sailing time has changed, whether the cargo has been rescheduled, and whether alternative routes or transit plans need to be prepared in advance. Especially for goods with high delivery time requirements, it is necessary to reserve a transportation buffer time in advance to reduce the impact of port hopping or continuous dumping of containers on production delivery and supply chain arrangements.

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