Seven days after, the lockdown in Shenzhen has been lifted, but the ripple effects are already visible
● There has been major ease of Chinese lockdowns. Shenzhen has resumed its work, however, even the several days of disrupted work are going to result in a significant slow down in cargo flow. It may take weeks for it to recover. Trucking has been impacted the most and now as drivers are restricted by sanitary measures, it takes them extra time to operate. This may lead to more queueing ships. The ripple effects are affecting several Northern Ports. After the lockdown in Shenzhen, many carriers including Maersk, MSC, and Hapag-Lloyd had to make schedule changes to avoid congested ports.
● Major delays in the western ports, although updates report the improving situation in the US, are the reason for Indian forwarders as well. Schedule reliability is alarming. CMA CGM is already advising to make network changes since ships deployed on regular services take very long to arrive. There also sailing with no space allocations for loading. As vessel schedules change, cargo carting hours are constantly revised by carriers, at times announced with a shorter gate-in window. However, the Indian situation does not prevent Sinokor Merchant Marine from ordering new ships to increase its capacity on India’s service.
● The Swedish Dockworkers Union has announced to the Ports of Sweden that it will not handle ships going to and from Russia as well as Russian cargo in all ports of the country.
● In contrast to other major players that have suspended operations in and with Russia, COSCO continues its service.
● Truck congestion has resulted from protests in Poland that blocked trucks crossing Poland-Belarus border. Recently, in support of protests, Poland’s prime minister demanded a total block on trade between the EU and Russia. However, these decisions are not made instantly, and for now, Poland is looking for ways to limit Russia’s activity locally.
● Meanwhile, Ukraine bids on rail and calls private companies for investment in railways and terminals that were already in the making to further connect it with the EU.
● Asian lines announce the launch of the new China to India service. The rotation will be Ningbo – Shanghai – Ho Chi Minh – Singapore – Chennai – Visakhapatnam – Port Kelang – Ho Chi Minh – Ningbo.
● More airlines have been shut down due to sanctions. Volga-Dnepr Group shut down subsidiaries that rely on Boeing aircraft.
● COSCO goes for sustainability by exploiting the new pair of 700 teu all-electric ships feeders on the Yangtze in the coming weeks competing with the current world's largest all-electric boxship the Yara Birkeland.
● ONE adds expansion on its agenda too by planning to invest $20bn on new containership and terminal acquisitions over the next eight years. The aim is to improve overall efficiency in slot costs and reduce carbon footprint.
● In addition to its initial objectives to focus on detention and demurrage policies of the big shipping lines, FMC is now going to assess how sufficient the lines serve the US exporters. The commission will be monitoring closely five independent container ship lines that recently entered the market in response to historically high rates shippers are paying for U.S. imports.
● The plan to improve service for shippers also regards the US-grown agricultural commodities. The Northwest Seaport Alliance and the US Department of Agriculture have proposed to preposition containers near the port terminals to enable quick loading on ships.
● With diesel costs accounting for a third of total transport costs, the drastic increase in fuel price has urged the French government to introduce emergency support to local hauliers. They will receive direct aid of $441m which shows that the authorities understand that the road freight industry is key to maintaining the supply chain.
● Houston salvage company Donjon Smit will be responsible for freeing the grounded vessel Ever Forward. However, clearing the ships’ components from mud will not be fast and will take at least a couple of weeks.
● The UK rail freight sector is anticipating the Spring Statement. The industry doubts that the government will do it justice in terms of potential financing, while right now is the crucial moment to invest. The leaders also called to promote a greener railway. The final statement will be revealed shortly and define the rail freight’s development.
● After a stoppage, work in Canadian Pacific Rail has returned to normal, although there are still disagreements that are due to settle.
● Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will start collecting Clean Truck Fund fee from April to encourage a change to cleaner trucks and raise resources for the development of zero-emissions technology.
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