Container lines are facing serious challenges with service reliability on Indian connections. The longer around southern Africa and congestion problems at hub ports en route are stacking up the issues. The result? Container lines are experiencing a significant impact on their operations.
In an effort to recover schedules, CMA CGM and MSC have announced port call changes on several Indian services. However, this has caused serious concerns for shippers and forwarders.
Container lines are experiencing a significant impact on their operations.
For instance, French carrier CMA CGM recently informed Indian customers that its North Europe-Mediterranean-Oceania (NEMO) service, which recently added a call at Ennore, will be omitting Tanger Med due to heavy congestion. Cargo for the Moroccan port will now be transhipped via Hamburg and Valencia.
And the problems don’t end there. Indian cargo flows have suffered another setback. The intra-Asia AS9 routing has multiple rotation disruptions in the offing, with calls at Port Kelang and Hong Kong being cut on the upcoming voyage of X-PRESS Capella.
In recent weeks, carriers have frequently adjusted gate cut-offs and cargo carting windows for their Indian sailings, causing widespread difficulties for exporters and freight forwarders in shipment planning.
Hans-Henrik Nielsen from NVO CargoGulf stated that the majority of major Asian hub ports were facing delays in vessel turnarounds, ranging from one to six days, on average.
He noted rising industry concerns over the deteriorating port flow situation. “Apart from the cost, it also means delays to cargo operations, which cause congestion with trucks, port gates, collection of containers, etc.”
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