Vessel redirects – in the name of profit rather than the planet
The Cape of Good Hope dilemma
MAERSK: BOTTOM FISHING NO MOREDHL: IN THE DOCKHLAG: GREEN DEALXOM: GEOPOLITICAL RISK AND OIL REBOUND IMPACTZIM: END OF STRIKE HANGOVERCHRW: GAUGING UPSIDEBA: STRIKE RISKDSV: STAR OF THE WEEKDSV: FLAWLESS EXECUTIONKNIN: ANOTHER LOWWTC: TAKING PROFITMAERSK: HAMMEREDZIM: PAINFUL END OF STRIKE
MAERSK: BOTTOM FISHING NO MOREDHL: IN THE DOCKHLAG: GREEN DEALXOM: GEOPOLITICAL RISK AND OIL REBOUND IMPACTZIM: END OF STRIKE HANGOVERCHRW: GAUGING UPSIDEBA: STRIKE RISKDSV: STAR OF THE WEEKDSV: FLAWLESS EXECUTIONKNIN: ANOTHER LOWWTC: TAKING PROFITMAERSK: HAMMEREDZIM: PAINFUL END OF STRIKE
North European shippers of heavylift and out-of-gauge cargo to the Middle East and Asia are being told by container lines there is no hope of shipment before June.
Over the past two years, container carriers have aggressively targeted the sector in an endeavour to fill empty slots on previously under-utilised ultra-large container vessels sailing back to Asia.
But now, with a backlog of containers and sky-high rates, box carriers have lost interest. In fact, one project forwarder raged to The Loadstar, at the recent Multimodal Exhibition in Birmingham, that he was “disgusted” with carriers not returning his calls or responding to emails.
He said carriers had “bombarded” him with sales calls a year ago, and he had eventually contracted, on behalf of his client, a pipe equipment manufacturer, with two carriers “that seemed to understand the complexity of the shipments”.
He said: “They were nowhere near the cheapest and, in fact, we dismissed approaches from some lines as we were concerned that there could be last-minute problems in the supply of flat racks, as well as with the stowage on board.”
The forwarder said he felt comfortable he had exercised the necessary due diligence to ensure no major hiccoughs in the supply chain.
But he said: “It all worked perfectly until about October. Then, one of the carriers said there was a shortage of flat racks and that we would be unable to get shipments on the nominated vessel.
“That was the start of a number of excuses from both carriers, and a bit later on we realised that there was a hidden agenda. The sales reps stopped coming round and we were getting pushed from pillar to post when we tried to contact the shipping lines.”
He added: “I have the two contracts in my briefcase, but they are not worth the paper they are printed on.”
He said he had been told by one of the carriers there might be an opportunity to cover a shipment “at the end of May or early June”, but “there would have to be an increase in the rate”.
He says he is “livid” at what he calls the “cavalier attitude” of the container lines.
The knock-on effect for the shipper has even greater magnitude, he added. It could now lose the balance of the contract to US suppliers.
Comment on this article
T Carter
April 17, 2017 at 9:54 pmLots of slots to fill and people are bombarded with calls, then the slots are filled, the routes are profitable and slots are now at a premium and the sales reps move onto the next targets and the carriers are not calling back….. welcome to the world of specialist, equipment-restrained transport!
This is a perennial and cyclical issue – although painful tough it out and overcapacity will return, the fresh faced sales reps will begin calling again and you can get your own back.