Current developments in sea freight: Impact on schedules and port processes

Blank Sailings, Labour Actions & changes of Shipping Alliances:

Please be advised that some shipping lines have  announced the cancellation of several sailings scheduled for April and May as a tool to recover sailing schedules that have been significantly impacted by ongoing congestion and delays at European ports. Labour actions at the Port of Rotterdam in March slow downed operations and increased Berth waiting times to 6 days, with container yards at full capacity. Some Ocean Carriers temporarily omitted Rotterdam from their services due to the congestion. Other European ports, like Antwerp, also experienced increased pressure due to the diverted cargo from Rotterdam. This had finally an impact on most ports and will take weeks to settle. Changes of shipping alliances in April has also severe consequences on service levels as port calls are partly changed, new ports added and hubs moved when trying to merge services. This again results in reduced sailings, skipping of ports at the last minute and / or not being able to complete operations as berthing windows are cut short.

Outlook: All this finally results in heavy delays and very unreliable schedules. A very high percentage of shipments are currently not shipped as booked and therefore delayed. It will take the shipping lines weeks to increase the booking and schedule reliability. Following those significant delays and changes in schedules, we also experience congested terminals at land side resulting in re-scheduling of export deliveries, extra costs of intermediate storage, terminal charges and trucking.

Please find our latest customer information letter here