Maersk emergency warning! Two major ports face delays!

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Recently, there are signs of further congestion at global ports due to the ongoing Red Sea crisis and surging container demand. A weekly report released by shipping consulting company Linerlytica on June 3 showed that the global container capacity waiting to enter ports rose to 2.1 million TEUs, accounting for 7.1% of the world’s total container capacity.

In addition, successive strikes at many key ports have also made this round of "congestion crisis" worse.

Cargo and container handling at Germany's main seaports came to a near standstill on June 17. Germany's Verdi union decided to launch a warning strike on Monday to convey their demands to employers as the deadlock in collective bargaining agreement negotiations could not be broken.

The focus of this strike is the dispute between labor and management over wages and benefits. The Verdi union insists on a €3 hourly wage increase from June 1 and an increase in shift allowances to improve workers' conditions.

However, the German Seaport Central Association has proposed a relatively lower increase. They have proposed a 2.5% increase in hourly wages from June 1 and a similar increase in shift allowances. This proposal clearly failed to meet the union's expectations, leading to a deadlock in the negotiations.

"Wage increases can provide financial relief to groups with lower wages," the chief negotiator said in a statement, stressing that these groups had been "particularly hard hit" by high inflation in recent years.According to official data, Germany's inflation rates in 2022 and 2023 will be 6.9% and 5.9% respectively.

It is reported that the strike started at 5 a.m. on the 17th, starting from the two major container ports of Hamburg and Bremen, and then spread to Bremerhaven Port, Breck and Emden and other ports. Depending on the port's location, the strike will last approximately 24 or 48 hours until late at night on June 17 or June 18, 2024.

These ports are important nodes in Germany and even Europe's trade network, and the stagnation of their operations has undoubtedly brought great pressure to the entire logistics chain.

Media reports said the strike brought traffic to a standstill at the port, with trucks seen lining up on a bridge leading to the Port of Hamburg. Freight rail companies have warned that the strike will lead to backlogs in services.

Industry insiders expect that this action will paralyze the operation of the container terminal of the Port of Hamburg, Germany's largest. Logistics companies "Hamburg Port Logistics AG" HHLA and Eurogate's four container terminals are also on strike. Burchardkai (CTB), Altenwerder (CTA) and Tollerort (CTT) container terminals will be particularly severely affected.

According to Vesselfinder, a ship tracking service company, five large container ships are affected by the strike at Eurogate Terminal and CTB Terminal alone, including a 400-meter-long ship with a capacity of about 24,000 standard containers."HMM Helsinki".

The strike will reportedly increase pressure on employers to submit negotiable offers in the third round of collective bargaining, which is scheduled to take place in Hamburg on June 17-18, coinciding with the strike.

Strikes at some smaller ports except Hamburg and Bremerhaven will continue until Wednesday.

In response, global shipping giant Maersk issued an emergency warning to customers on the 17th, stating that its shipping network is expected to be widely affected due to strike actions at major German seaports.

According to Maersk's assessment, multiple scheduled sailing plans will be disrupted and delayed due to the strike.Especially on Finnish services, may suffer a more significant impact.

Faced with this unfavorable situation, Maersk stated that it will consider changing the ship's sailing route or reducing calls to minimize the impact on subsequent shipping schedules, thereby minimizing delays in customer cargo.

However, even if the strike ends, Maersk expects the terminal may face congestion for container deliveries and pickups when operations resume. Mainly because the backlog of goods and containers during the strike needs to be processed in a timely manner, and the terminal's processing capacity may be subject to certain limitations.

Therefore, Maersk recommends that customers be prepared and communicate with relevant departments in advance to ensure the smooth delivery and pickup of goods.

At the same time, Kuehne Nagel also updated its official website and issued a warning: German ports will begin a new round of strikes. Container pickup and unloading will not be possible during this period, and rail departures will be canceled or delayed.

Labor tensions are also rising in France, with unions representing dockworkers and other port workers staging several one-day strikes and multiple four-hour work stoppages this month, further irritating Nordic shippers, according to media reports. pressure.

At present, the Red Sea crisis has affected the deviation of ships, coupled with the global port congestion that has caused a large amount of transportation capacity to be trapped, and the shortage of transportation capacity is serious, the port strike will undoubtedly worsen the situation for shipping.Major shipping lines and shippers need to pay close attention to these changes and take appropriate measures to deal with potential risks and challenges.