Stormy Times!

Everyone in the UK will be aware that we have been going through stormy times weather wise, with Storm Dennis now hot on the heels of Storm Ciara, so how does this affect shipping?

The short answer is BIG TIME!

One of the main problems is Port closures, these will occur when the wind speed reaches such a level as to make usage of the gantry cranes (these are cranes which span from shore to ship and lift off and re load the containers)  unsafe, this means that all port operations will stop, containers can’t be offloaded or re loaded to the trucks or on and off the vessels.

The longer the closure is can only mean one thing – a huge backlog!

All vessels are on strict port rotations (or loops) so any additional time at port – beyond the allotted time – is dead time and sometimes this cannot be made up on its voyage.  This may then lead to a vessel omitting a port call – simply to make up time.

This is bad news for customers with cargo at that port waiting for shipment – so not being able to catch the vessel.

Imagine a bus being delayed by an accident on its journey, and so driving straight past passengers waiting to catch the bus at various stops!

If the weather is so bad that vessels are late arriving at port, either delayed at sea or at other ports of call and they have missed their allotted berthing time, they may have to anchor offshore to await another booking slot becoming available, again incurring loss of time and money for the vessel operators and frustrating delays for exporters’ and customers.

We at Andante Freight, make every effort to ensure our containers are loaded, documented, cleared and they are at the ports in time for the booked sailing…whist we have a good relationship with the shipping lines – at the end of the day

YOU CAN’T FIGHT MOTHER NATURE   !!

Contact – Richard@andantefreight.com or 01274 676057