As carriers continue to leave import containers stranded at North European ports and charge exporters more than $5,000 to ship a box to Asia, the pressure is growing for regulatory intervention.
And UK importers today face major challenges from the decision by Ocean Alliance members to divert five more vessels from Felixstowe to Zeebrugge in December.
An advisory on Friday told UK customers that the Cosco Shipping Azalea, Ever Goods, Ever Globe, CSCL Jupiter and CSCL Uranus would no longer call at Felixstowe and discharge their UK imports at the Belgian port.
The 2M and THE alliance partners are also diverting ships away from the heavily congested UK ports, the former discharging UK cargo at Bremerhaven.
And The Loadstar understands that, due to a dearth of open feeder tonnage and terminal capacity issues, there is little prospect of UK cargo being relayed back until January.
The Loadstar also understands that some carriers are discussing omitting Felixstowe for the whole of January, fearing the port will become “saturated for several weeks” after Christmas.
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Source: The Loadstar
BDP will continue to monitor the situation and keep customers informed of any updates. Please feel free to reach out to your local customer representative with any questions or concerns.
