Container ships see widespread delays at California’s main ports
Almost every container ship at the biggest import gateway in the US is seeing delayed departures or is waiting for a berth, as labor-related disruptions continue on the West Coast.
“Basically every container vessel is having their schedule pushed back by about a day or two,” Richard Palmer of the Marine Exchange of Southern California said in an emailed operations update. He said the main reason he’s seen is a lack of “lashers,” or longshoremen who secure containers aboard ships.
Palmer said agents for 10 of the vessels attributed the delays to a shortage of labor, and that some agencies didn’t want to comment on the labor situation or didn’t specify a reason for the delay.
US West Coast ports are enduring the longest labor-related disruptions since 2015 as talks between port employers and dockworkers close in on one year of negotiations on a new contract.
AJOT
Flurry of FMC complaints reveals widespread accusations of Ocean Carrier profiteering
All of the top ten ocean container carriers have been accused by shippers of systematic price gouging and unfair practices in the past 18 months, according to complaints lodged with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). Shippers say carriers attempted to cash in on the dramatic spike in spot rates that resulted from increased demand for household and other items during the COVID-19 pandemic, at the expense of their long-term customers.
Supply Chain Brain
PSA BDP opens new EV battery warehouse in France
PSA BDP, a provider of globally integrated and port-centric supply chain, transportation, and logistics solutions, announced the inauguration of its new Electric Vehicle (EV) battery logistics warehouse in Dunkirk, France.
With this warehouse, PSA BDP aims to offer contract logistics services to the region’s rapidly growing Auto EV cluster. The facility is BREEAM* certified and meets the highest standards for sustainable EV battery handling, including in-rack sprinklers, temperature and humidity cameras, quarantine containers and water basins.
Container News
India prefers negotiating with EU on carbon tax to WTO complaint
India is hoping to engage directly with the European Union for leeway on its proposed carbon tax instead of adjudicating the issue through the World Trade Organization, according to people familiar with the matter.
A major exporter of steel and aluminum, India is seeking exemptions that would protect its small manufacturers from levies imposed by the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM, which will tax some imports from countries that don’t fix carbon pricing the way Europe does.
AJOT
AI-controlled autonomous battery-powered trucks ordered for Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, the UK’s largest and busiest container port, is set to become the first port in Europe to introduce battery-powered autonomous trucks controlled by the latest AI technologies. Hutchison Ports which operates the Port of Felixstowe ordered 100 of the Q-Truck as the next step in a five-year collaboration to develop and introduce autonomous vehicles to daily commercial operations.
Hutchison reports that the order follows a tender process along with a thorough testing and evaluation process conducted at Felixstowe. They first introduced the trucks developed at Shanghai Westwell Technology Co. in 2020 at Terminal D in Laem Chabang Port, Thailand. According to the companies they have deployed 15 of the trucks as part of the efforts to make the Thailand port the first smart port in the world employing mixed mode operation between manned and unmanned internal traffic.
The Maritime Executive
UN-led effort to draft plastics treaty to address ocean/land pollution
Efforts are underway to tackle the problems of plastic pollution by developing a legally binding international that seeks to eliminate or reduce the global dependence on plastics which are piling up both on land and in the world’s oceans. As the globe marks World Environment Day, negotiators meeting in France over the past week resolved to prepare a draft resolution on plastic pollution setting in motion the process to develop a Global Plastics Treaty that could be adopted as soon as the end of next year.
The Maritime Executive
Saudi Arabia to reduce global oil supply contributions
Saudia Arabia announced it will soon begin reducing how much oil it contributes to the global economy after two previous supply cuts from major oil-producing countries in the OPEC+ alliance failed to lead to a price increase of the commodity. Starting July 2023, Saudi Arabia will begin cutting 1 million barrels of oil per day from the global supply.
Supply Chain Brain
