Update: JNPT system knockout after cyberattack extends into third day
The system outage at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT), the oldest marine facility in India’s Port of Nhava Sheva (JNPT), following a ransomware attack on 20 February, stretched into the third day, forcing many port users to turn back to the old and tedious manual method of processes.
Sources in JNPT said all efforts are under way to reinstate the digital applications with the help of the service provider. However, none of the sources were able to say when the system would be back, up and running.
The port authority, in its first communication since the incident, also noted that government agencies are working to fix the problem.
Container News
Ship backup off Port of Charleston swells to 30 vessels
A backup of container ships waiting for berths at South Carolina’s Port of Charleston has reached 30 vessels from 19 last month as the supply-chain congestion that has frustrated U.S. importers extends to more gateways.
Jim Newsome, head of the South Carolina Ports Authority that owns and operates the port, said he now expects the backlog to be cleared by mid-April after earlier estimating that the armada of vessels offshore would dissipate by mid-March.
“There’s really not a minute except for when a ship leaves and when a ship comes that the berth is empty,” he said. “They’re working. But the productivity is not what it could be when a terminal is full like this.” That has left some ships staying longer as containers are loaded and unloaded, he said.
Wall Street Journal
Truck, rail and empties: Efforts to clear congestion at Port of Los Angeles pick up speed
The Port of Los Angeles is making progress on reducing the number of empty containers dwelling on its docks, but many of its truck gate slots and much of its on-dock rail capacity are going unused, contributing to ongoing congestion, Executive Director Gene Seroka said during a virtual briefing Thursday.
The port handled 865,595 TEUs in January, a 3.6% increase YoY and its busiest January on record. But the average dwell time and total number of aging containers has dropped overall since October, Seroka said. Now, there are just over 9,400 containers waiting nine days or more on docks, a 75% drop since Oct. 25.
Supply Chain Dive
Labor Department to ramp up worker rights enforcement in warehousing, logistics
The Department of Labor has had an eye on the warehouse and logistics industries for some time. In September 2021, the agency announced that as a result of its investigation, a San Diego customs warehouse company would pay $235,000 in back wages and penalties. The company employed 16 Mexican nationals as merchandise checkers, paying them between $3.38 and $5.61 per hour in pesos, DOL alleged.
"This case is a wake-up call to the customs warehouse industry," Ruben Rosalez, DOL wage and hour regional administrator, said of the case. "Paying a workforce as little as $3 an hour will not be tolerated."
Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are especially vulnerable to wage and hour violations, according to a PBS investigation; the warehouse industry — like agriculture, restaurants and hotels — tends to have a high representation of immigrant workers.
Supply Chain Dive
Container carriers enhance East Africa – Asia network with new service
Shipping lines will launch a new service which will connect East Africa with Asia and is expected to start in the next month.
The new weekly product,which will be a joint service of Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express (ONE), Pacific International Lines (PIL) and Gold Star Line (GSL), will have the following rotation:
Shanghai – Ningbo – Nansha - Singapore – Port Kelang – Dar-Es-Salaam – Port Kelang – Singapore – Shanghai
Container News
ReCAAP: Ten robberies in Singapore Strait in first seven weeks of 2022
Sea robberies and the boarding of vessels underway in the Singapore strait are continuing with the reporting agency for the region issuing alerts to seafarers and warning for the need to increase vigilance and maintain lookouts while transiting the Singapore Strait. ReCAAP ISC issued repeated warnings of consistent low-level crimes against ships in 2021, and today issued a new alert reporting a further increase of activity in 2022.
According to the latest incident alert, there have been nine successful boarding of vessels and a tenth attempt in the seven weeks since the beginning of 2022 all in the region around the Singapore Strait. Seven of the incidents occurred in the eastbound lane in the strait and four of them were in a tightly clustered area off Nongsa Point, Batam Island in Indonesia. ReCCAP reports that these four incidents all happened in a 10-day span between February 8 and 18 with three of them coming on consecutive days between February 16 and 18.
Maritime Executive
