Been hearing rumours about a Containers shortage on the Asian ports lately?

There have been several reports forwarded regarding a massive issue at Asian ports where carriers with premium trans-Pacific services are also lacking In assuring that the equipment will be available to serve or not. The following has been authorised by the reports from Freight forwarders. The shortage of vessels has been acute to an extent where vessels from Chinese ports like Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai are leaving the Asian ports without the full loads. There have been reports that verify, imports from China to the USA via Los Angeles and Long Beach have become extremely strong since late June as the post-Covid-19 lockdown effects. Any container available at the Asian port is not enough to fill the US vessels.

As soon as the news spread, various carriers which include CGM, Matson Navigation Co, Zim Integrated Shipping Services, and even Maersk Line stood at the service to provide the accurate number of premium carriers. They have been competing following providing services which are not limited to:

  • Guarantee Customer Equipment
  • Priority loading at Asian Ports
  • Priority Discharge at US Port

The charges that have been offered are about 4000$ per FEU to the West Coast. The listing was published by Shanghai Containerized Freight Index. Due to the unavailability of the containers the premium services are also neglected and considered as a normal service only.

US importers facing several barriers at Asian load ports

 Due to a shortage of carriers, the booking process has been made complicated where the retailer has to face a series of hurdles to make the bookings. Firstly, there is a six-foot barrier during secure booking only when the booking is made to confirm the customer is required to jump a four-foot hurdle to get the container to the shipping. Once the booking is successfully made a two-foot barrier is places to get the container loaded onto the ship.

How does this help in overcoming the Containers shortage?

The customers who fail to cross the hurdles efficiently will be declined a request to obtain a container for shipment and shall be provided to only those who are capable of handling premium shipment services.

Due to the heavy orders inline after late June, it is suggested to the customers, to book the shipment containers and path before 2-4 weeks from the actual date of the shipment. An anonymous person has reported that the people at the US ports have tried everything to deliver the carriers back to the Asia ports. The trans-Pacific premium services, which are concentrated in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, are most popular for shippers of high-value, time-sensitive goods such as personal protective equipment (PPE), medical supplies and equipment, and e-commerce fulfilment. Some shippers who require expedited service have shifted from air freight to premium ocean services because airlines have cancelled a large number of passenger services from Asia to North America during the COVID-19 pandemic, eliminating much-needed aircraft belly space for freight.

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