(Florham Park, NJ)…With a steady inbound flow every day, the total queue of vessels waiting to berth at the Port of Yantian increases. The Port Authority has been successful with re-opening the west port yard for laden import pickup and one more berth has been re-opened, allowing a maximum of 7 vessels alongside at the same time. This moves productivity towards 45% of normal levels.
While this has a positive impact on gate activity, which is soon expected to reach the same levels as before the incident, schedule reliability will continue to suffer with an average waiting time of 16 days and counting. To mitigate the impact as best as we can and give our customers as much visibility into the situation as possible, below please find the plan for the remainder of this month.
Trade | Service | Plan |
USWC | TP6 / UPAS 3 | Maintain Yantian |
USWC | TP2 / UPAS 2 | Maintain Yantian |
USWC | TP9 / UPAS 4 | Omit throughout June except for “Zim Tianping“ that will maintain the Yantian call |
USEC | TP12 / ASUS 2 | Two omissions in June, work ongoing to conclude on future sailings |
USEC | TP16 / ASUS 3 | Maintain Yantian. Ad hoc omissions on a bi-weekly cadence |
USEC | TP17 / ASUS 5 | Omit throughout June |
USEC | TP88 / ASUS 6 | Maintain Yantian, except for “Zim Houston that will omit Yantian |
USEC | TP23 / ASUS 8 | Maintain Yantian, except for 1 omission |
To this date, with the information currently at hand, we believe the above to be the best course of action. This plan has been formed together with our partners and with our customers at the front of our minds. In diverting our vessels, we are closely monitoring the situation in neighboring ports. The current average waiting time in Shekou, Nansha, and Hong Kong is between 2-4 days, but as more carriers omit Yantian, this number is expected to rise. Deciding which port to divert to will always be made with the objective of minimizing supply chain delays.