Stockwell International News Alert 12th August 2021

Stockwell International News Alert 12th August 2021

Stockwell International would like to update clients with severe weather in China, Ningbo Meishan Port closure, Xingang booking suspension, holiday notices and ocean freight updates. Find out more.

Written by

Jane Doe
Managing Director - logistics strategy and consulting
Jane Doe
Managing Director - logistics strategy and consulting

Severe Weather China

Stockwell International has received notice from our China counterparts.

Stockwells has been advised that Shanghai and Ningbo will have a difficult period for weeks after being hit with typhoon In-Fa.

Due to safety concerns, Shanghai port authority announced reduction on draft limit.

It is estimated that space will be reduced by another 15%.

Please keep in mind this will be causing delays and congestion on top of an already difficult shipping environment and we will update you with any further, relevant information.

For questions please contact your sales rep on [email protected] or 1300 786 468


Ningbo Meishan Port Closure

Stockwell International has received notice of Ningbo Meishan port closure.

Operations at a terminal of the world’s largest port were suspended yesterday following a single case of Covid-19

It was earlier reported Ningbo Meishan port was experiencing unprecedented volumes of tankers, bulk carriers and containerships backing up outside Ningbo-Zhoushan port.

Please keep in mind this situation is going to create major delays and more congestion. Stockwells will update you with relevant information.

For questions please contact your sales rep on [email protected] or 1300 786 468

Xingang Booking Suspension

Stockwell International has received notice from shipping lines.

Due to rollover and backlog in major ports, Xingang has suspended any new bookings until the 15th of September.

On the 15th of September this will be reviewed, Stockwell will update when possible.

For questions please contact your sales rep on [email protected] or 1300 786 468


Holiday Notice

Stockwell International would like to advise of upcoming holidays in Indonesia;

Islamic New Year
Closed on 11 August 2021
Normal operation will resume on 12 August 2021

Independence Day

Closed 17 August 2021

Normal operation will resume on 18 August 2021

Ocean Freight Update

All carriers have announced a GRI of at least USD300/teu for services ex North-East Asia for the 2nd half of August (15th onwards). Hamburg Sud’s GRI announcement was for USD750/teu, which is the largest GRI announcement we have seen this year. It is expected that rates will continue to increase by USD300/teu every fortnight for the next 3 months.

Due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Jiangsu Province (Shanghai region), trucking costs have increased significantly due to lack of driver availability. We have been advised that all drivers delivering containers to Shanghai Port have to deliver a negative covid test within the last 48 hours. These measures have seen transport companies implement a ‘covid-19 test fee’ of USD240/driver for shipments from this area.

Ningbo and Shanghai Ports are currently at crisis point due to a combination of covid-outbreaks, equipment shortages across all carriers and recent typhoon activity in the area. In order to increase the safety of vessels during typhoon season, Shanghai Port Authority has announced a reduction on draft limit (cargo on a ship) by 15% for all vessels calling Shanghai Port. This is effective from 10th of August 2021 until further notice. A number of confirmed bookings are expected to be cancelled or rolled to later sailings as a result of these safety measures. Stockwells will do all we can to keep our original bookings but some cancellations will be out of our control. Getting space on vessels from these ports will also become extremely challenging in the next few months so please notify us of bookings and cargo ready dates as early as possible. Ideally we will need to know the cargo ready date one month in advance.

Shipping Lines Cosco and OOCL have advised: Due to Singapore transshipment congestion and vessels delay, with immediate effect, bookings ex China origins to ADL/FRE are suspended until further notice. At this stage few shipping lines are still accepting bookings ex China to Adelaide and Fremantle.

All carriers have stopped accepted bookings ex India to Australia until further notice. We have been told this is due to severe port congestion at Singapore, where there is currently over 4 weeks’ worth of backlogged containers waiting to be shipped to Australia.

Majority shipping lines have all suspended booking acceptance on all South-East Asia services that are t/s via Singapore. This is due to the situation currently unfolding in Singapore where vessels are waiting over a week to birth due to severe port congestion combined with backlogs and container rollovers for over 4 weeks for services ex Singapore to Auckland. Stockwells will advise when booking acceptance will resume but this may not be for a while, unfortunately.

MSC, Maersk and Hamburg have 3 upcoming services where they will omit Yokohama, Osaka, Busan, Ningbo and Yantian. These three services are back to back, departing NEA the first three weeks of August. This is going to take a significant amount of space out of the market from these ports so demand for space from other carriers is going to go increase.

Due to the huge number of recent service omissions from Qingdao it has become impossible to get space with a number of carriers. Please contact us ASAP of new shipments at least 5 weeks from the cargo ready date as we have very limited options in who we can book space with.

Services between Australia and New Zealand have been impacted in recent months by severe port congestion at both AU and NZ ports. In order to reduce delays caused by this port congestion, shipping lines operating on this trade lane reduced space capacity on services, deliberately omitted the ports with the biggest delays (Sydney, Auckland) and blanked a number of sailings. This has left a huge backlog of cargo unable to be shipped on AU-NZ services with shipping lines refusing to add extra services to clear the backlog. Below is an update on Each carrier.

  • ANL – Fully booked until the end of August. September services not yet open for booking.
  • MSC – Fully suspended booking acceptance until further notice.
  • Hamburg Sud – Fully booked until the end of August.
  • Hapag Lloyd – Fully booked to mid-September with bookings not being accepted beyond then.
  • Maersk – no services available for booking.

Only a few carriers right now are accepting bookings ex North China (Xingang, Dalian) due to space and equipment issues. Other carriers have very small allocations from these ports as they are not on direct routes.

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