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Global supply chains already strained by the disruption caused by the pandemic have been further challenged recently by the blockage of the Suez Canal, an artery that carries 30% of the world’s container cargo each year. Happily, the Canal is now functioning normally again, but a reported 300 ships have been delayed awaiting transit, many others were re-routed via the longer passage around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

In its advisory capacity as a mitigator of risk and loss in the supply chain TT Club is warning of the consequences of these recent events. Mike Yarwood, TT’s Managing Director, Loss Prevention commented: “Beyond the delay to cargo on board those ships affected, there will inevitably be a knock-on impact for those involved in discharging the containers at destination ports when they finally arrive, as well as the final mile delivery carriers. While the immediate impact may be a lack of cargo arriving when expected, presenting market supply challenges, it is when the cargo does start to turn-up that further potential risks emerge.”

Yarwood further stressed: “The risk of theft at ports and freight depots in this scenario is heightened and a greater focus on security is required. Whether it simply be at an overspill holding or storage area, or temporary warehousing, wherever and whenever cargo is not moving, it is more likely to be stolen. Those active in the supply chain should be mindful of these security risks. Due diligence, undertaken to ensure that any third party provider of storage is adequately resourced to meet these demands, is a prudent step to take in these circumstances.”

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This new offer will combine both sea and rail service departing from China, Korea and Japan to Europe, via Vladivostok and Vostochniy with further feeder connections from St Petersburg.

From St. Petersburg, cargoes can be shipped directly to some of the major European hubs such as Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Le Havre through our European feeder network offering an extensive coverage of ports and inland connections in the continent.

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Image source: MSC

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It is also looking into procuring cranes that could potentially offload cargo at heights of up to 52 meters, Osama Rabie told Reuters in an interview. “Our procedures are sound, we are just aiming to improve the service,” he said.

The 400-metre-long (1,310 ft) Ever Given became grounded diagonally across the southern section of the canal during high winds on March 23. It remained stuck for six days, preventing hundreds of ships from passing and significantly impacting global trade flows.

After it was dislodged, the ship was taken to a lake that separates two sections of the canal where the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has been conducting investigations. Rabie said data from the ship’s recorders had been removed and handed over to an investigation committee, and that the ship would travel on once the procedures were completed.“We are talking about two or three more days, God willing. But we won’t take much time,” he said.

The SCA has said that it will continue to take ships of the Ever Given’s size and is reinforcing its ability to deal with future problems.“We will try to get two more tug boats, with pulling power of more than 200 tonnes – 250, 280, depending,” Rabie said.
Source: Reuters 

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On Monday morning, 24 container ships—with a combined maximum carrying capacity nearly 10 times that of the newly freed ship—were anchored off the coast waiting for space at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which keeps tabs on vessels and directs ship traffic.

The ships are carrying tens of thousands of boxes holding millions of dollars’ worth of washing machines, medical equipment, consumer electronics and other of the goods that make up global ocean trade, all of it idling in the waters in sight of docks that are jammed with still more containers.

One was on its 12th day of waiting in the seemingly unending queue. And the vessels keep coming.

Backups started building late last year as retailers and manufacturers tried to rebuild inventories that were depleted in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

A stark difference can be seen comparing the movements of container ships around the ports in February of 2020 with February 2021, according to location data from shipping tracker Marine Traffic.

The two ports together handle more than a third of U.S. container imports, and delays there are part of a global supply-chain mess that continues even after the ships are unloaded. In January, more than a quarter of imported containers at those gateways had to wait more than five days for handling once they reached the dock, according to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. In June 2020, before the logjam, about 2% had to wait that long.

U.S. imports from international trading partners picked up as coronavirus restrictions eased and demand rebounded in the summer of 2020. The U.S. imported a record $219.86 billion in goods in January of this year on a seasonally adjusted basis, about 9% higher than a year earlier.

“Under normal conditions, container ships rarely anchor,” said Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California. On Feb. 1 at noon, 40 were anchored offshore. The number has dipped since.

The number of container ships at a berth loading or discharging containers fluctuated between roughly 10 and 20 throughout 2019 and into 2020, which is normal, according to Capt. Louttit. It fluctuated between roughly 20 and 30 from late 2020 into March of this year. “The ports are setting records moving cargo,” he said.

The sudden uptick in shipments last year after a lull in the spring and summer “shocked and choked the goods movement system,” Capt. Louttit said. The extra ships arrived when the system was operating at reduced capacity and efficiency, a bottleneck partly due to transportation and logistics personnel being off the job because of Covid-19 infections and exposure, he said.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continue to work through the backlog as the number of ships arriving continues to rise. In February of this year, 177 container ships and more than 800,000 containers (in 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs) arrived at the ports. That’s 31% more ships and 49% more containers than the same month last year.

Seaborne imports into the U.S. have been building for months, starting with a surge in shipments of consumer goods as far back as August, according to Chris Rogers, supply-chain analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence Panjiva.

“The goods where we have seen the fastest growth in shipments are those that take up a lot of space on container ships relative to their value, with the result that the growth in volume of trade has been faster than the growth in value of trade,” Mr. Rogers said.

The supply-chain analyst cited marked increases in containers of furniture, home appliances, large consumer electronics, medical supplies and home and personal-care products.

The disruptions show how vulnerable supply chains are, and why it has been so challenging for many U.S. businesses to rebound a year after the pandemic’s onset even as the economy begins to recover.
Source: Wall Street Journal

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A huge container ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, raising hopes that the busy waterway will soon be reopened for a big backlog of ships.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Marine traffic through the canal will restart once the ship is directed to the lakes area – a wider section of the canal, the SCA said.

At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.

Source: indianexpress.com

#evergiven ship floated successfully in #suezcanal pic.twitter.com/lCvc67v9KZ

— Capt. Yousif (@CaptJoo2023) March 29, 2021

#BREAKING: Stranded Ever Given vessel in the Suez Canal was successfully refloated, no official confirmation yet.#Egypt #Suez #SuezCanal #EVERGIVEN #Evergreen #BreakingNews #SuezCrisis #SuezBLOCKED | #السفينة_الجائحة #عاجلpic.twitter.com/HxFAW2LUzw

— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) March 29, 2021

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The Ultra Large Container Ship (ULCS) #EVERGIVEN showing her bow firmly aground on the east Bank of the #Suezcanal and blocking about 10% of the world’s trade. pic.twitter.com/obDpU8w3ed

— Sal Mercogliano (@mercoglianos) March 24, 2021

Since Tuesday, the passage between Asia and Europe has been blocked by the Ever Given, a container ship adrift. Operations are still underway to dislodge it.

A gust of wind and a whole section of the world’s maritime trade is at a standstill. Since Tuesday, at around 6am local time, the traditional passage of liners in the Suez Canal has come to an end. In the middle of this passage of more than 190 kilometres which cuts Egypt in two, constantly enlarged since its opening in 1869, a huge container ship blocks the passage.

According to the Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine Corp. contacted by AFP, a gust of wind accidentally caused the Ever Given, a 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long ship flying the Panamanian flag, to veer off course. The giant of the seas was trying to reach Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, from Asia, according to the Vessel Finder website. The vessel alone took up the entire width of the canal, and despite several hours of operations, it was impossible to dislodge it.

The Suez Canal has undergone continuous expansion since it was first opened between 1859 and 1869, with the most recent extension in 2015. In 2020, more than 10% of the world’s maritime trade passed through it. Every year, 19,000 ships pass through, about 50 a day. The equivalent of $100 million (€85 million) worth of oil passes through the port every day, and despite the incident, oil prices have remained fairly stable so far.

While waiting for the tugs to manage to move Ever Given, and while the operation could take several days, the Egyptian authorities explained that they had reopened the historic passage, which was used in the past, in both directions. If the canal were to remain closed, ships would be forced to bypass Africa to reach Europe, which would double the journey time, adding another ten days to the journey.

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Suez Canal blocked by stranded Evergreen Containership. pic.twitter.com/wlJcX5waFf

— Martin Lukale (@LukaleMartin) March 24, 2021

The Suez Canal, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world, is reportedly blocked because someone accidentally got stuck with their giant container ship. The photo is unreal. pic.twitter.com/I2ACkBqPi2

— Marcel Dirsus (@marceldirsus) March 23, 2021

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