Multinational ports or congestion, delays, and surcharges increase!

Recently, Roger Storey, general manager of CF Sharp Crew Management, a Philippine seafarer dispatch company, revealed that more than 40 ships sail to the Port of Manila in the Philippines for seafarer changes every day, which has caused serious congestion in the port.

However, not only Manila, but some ports are also in congestion. The current congested ports are as follows:

1. Los Angeles port congestion: truck drivers or strike
Although the peak holiday season in the United States has not yet arrived, sellers are trying to prepare for the November and December shopping months in advance, and the momentum of the peak freight season has begun to appear, and port congestion has become increasingly serious.
 Due to the large amount of cargo sent by sea to Los Angeles, the demand for truck drivers exceeds demand. Due to the large amount of goods and the few drivers, the current supply and demand relationship of Los Angeles trucks in the United States is extremely unbalanced. The freight rate of long-distance trucks in August has soared to the highest in history.

2. Los Angeles small shipper: surcharge increased to 5000 US dollars

Effective August 30, Union Pacific Railroad will increase the excess contract cargo surcharge for small carriers in Los Angeles to US$5,000, and the surcharge for all other domestic carriers to US$1,500.

3.Congestion at the Port of Manila: more than 40 ships per day

Recently, Roger Storey, general manager of CF Sharp Crew Management, a Philippine seafarer dispatch company, said in an interview with the shipping media IHS Maritime Safety: At present, there is serious traffic congestion in the Port of Manila. Every day, more than 40 ships sail to Manila for seafarers. The average waiting time for ships exceeds one day, which has caused serious congestion in the port.
 According to the ship dynamic information provided by IHS Markit AISLive, there were 152 ships in Manila Port on August 28, and another 238 ships were arriving. From August 1st to 18th, a total of 2,197 ships arrived. A total of 3,415 ships arrived in Manila Port in July, up from 2,279 in June.

4. Congestion in the port of Lagos: the ship waits for 50 days

According to reports, the current waiting time for ships in Lagos Port has reached fifty (50) days, and it is said that about 1,000 export cargoes of container trucks are stuck on the roadside of the port. ": No one clears customs, the port has become a warehouse, and the port of Lagos is seriously congested! The Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) accused the APM terminal, which operates the Apapa terminal in Lagos, of lacking container handling equipment, which caused the port to backlog cargo.

"The Guardian" interviewed relevant workers at the Nigerian terminal and learned: In Nigeria, the terminal fee is about US$457, the freight is US$374, and the local freight from the port to the warehouse is about US$2050. An intelligence report from SBM also showed that compared with Ghana and South Africa, goods shipped from the EU to Nigeria are more expensive.

5. Algeria: Port congestion surcharge changes

In early August, Bejaia port workers went on a 19-day strike, and the strike has ended on August 20. However, the current ship berthing sequence at this port suffers from severe congestion between 7 and 10 days, and has the following effects:

1. Delay in the delivery time of ships arriving at the port;

2. The frequency of empty equipment reinstallation/replacement is affected;

3. Increase in operating costs;
Therefore, the port stipulates that ships destined for Béjaïa from all over the world need to submit a congestion surcharge, and the standard for each container is 100 USD/85 Euro. The application date starts on August 24, 2020.