Ports in the crossfire
On the effects of carriers changing routes and rotations.
Shipping lines have emerged from Covid-19 as the big winners after two years of measures combat the outbreak. Looking at the overall organisational picture, as the Global Shippers Forum has done, shows that shippers and ports have paid the price.
‘Lost capacity’ are the two key words that MDS Transmodal investigated in a study commissioned by the Global Shippers Forum (GSF). The analysis provided by the a transport economics consultancy company based in Chester (England) measured the number of container slots in ports that were lost due to route changes implemented by shipping lines, or on account of the latter cancelling some services.
The results are shocking. Overall, global ports lost more than a third of their expected container handling capacities in 2021, leading to delays and costs for shippers and to economic losses, especially for some smaller developing countries.
Some quite substantial shortfalls
In the Asia-Pacific region, Port Klang in Malaysia recorded the largest shortfall with a 40% loss, followed by Melbourne (Australia) and Tauranga (New Zealand), which lost around one third of expected container capacities in the second half of 2021. In 2019, the ‘no-show’ average in these ports stood at 10 – 15% of expected capacities.
In Europe, in turn, the port of Piraeus was the most affected, with around 40% of expected container capacities unavailable on vessels in the last quarter of 2021. In comparison, the level of outages prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 came to 15 – 20%. The ports of Felixstowe and Jebel Ali, for example, were also a third below their expected capacity.
Market connectivity impacted
MDST senior consultant Antonella Teodoro said that the big picture since Q1 / 2019 showed that “carriers have reduced both planned and actual capacity provided.” These cancellations have severely impacted emerging market connectivity.
In addition to shipping rates for the remaining capacity rising locally, and to unplanned surcharges for the handling and storing of delayed containers, James Hookham, GSF director, sees overarching issues too. “If developing countries lose the ability to export goods, economic recovery may be delayed after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.”