Severe port congestions at Hamburg port and US ports affect global supply chains

Severe port congestions at Hamburg port and numerous ports in the US are affecting the global supply chains and resulting in extra costs. Below, you can learn more about the situation, and how it affects your business.

The situation at the port of Hamburg:

The port of Hamburg is facing severe congestion and containers are piling up. The reason being that shipping lines are reducing capacity by taking out vessels – so-called blank sailings. Current bad weather conditions make the situation even worse. To avoid further congestion, containers may not enter the terminals earlier than 48 or 72 hours before loading. Should a vessel be delayed, the containers booked for that departure will be moved away from the loading area and only returned once the vessel is ready to load. Reworking a container like this results in additional costs, which will be passed on to the shipper or consignee.

The situation at the US ports:

The pandemic shut down China from March until May 2020 where production reopened, while the US reopened during June-July 2020. This was the start of a bottleneck situation, in which far too large quantities were sent to the United States in a short period of time. At the same time, many dockworkers were sent home and still are being sent home due to Covid-19, causing further operational disruptions. In addition to this, there is a shortage of trucks and chassis as well as a historic shortage of truck drivers throughout the country. These situations combined result in severe delays.

Demurrage and/or store charges will occur at US ports:

The shipping lines generally grant 3-5 days of free time in their port section. Thereafter heavy demurrage charges will occur for each additional day. To minimize costs for you, we recommend storing your container at an external container yard before actual delivery can take place. The pick-up and storage costs are considerably lower compared to letting the containers stay at the shipping lines’ container yards. The costs for this operation we will pass on to the shipper or consignee - depending on delivery terms.

LEMAN is doing everything possible to keep your supply chain moving

We are monitoring the situation and doing everything we can to handle your shipments as quickly and seamlessly as possible and will do our utmost to make sure that the situation will not affect your supply chain or lead to extra costs.

Do you have any further questions?

You are always welcome to contact your personal LEMAN representative to learn more about the situation and alternative logistics solutions.