How to sue a carrier for delays, blanked sailings and D&D overcharges

If you are facing unprecedented delays in shipping and route cancellations that are compounded by the inability to get your containers out of the port, with huge charges for demurrage and detention adding insult to injury, you are not alone.
I have seen numerous articles talking about these issues, but none advising on practical steps to take. Here is that long overdue article.
Let’s take these issues one by one:
Delays
If delays …

The post How to sue a carrier for delays, blanked sailings and...

https://theloadstar.com/how-to-sue-a-carrier-for-delays-blanked-sailings-and-dd-overcharges/

More supply chain delays as Ningbo port congestion worsens

A view from the back of a container vessel entering a port with tall cranes on the dock.

The closure of a critical container terminal at the Port of Ningbo in China because of a COVID infection is having swift ripple effects that are likely to spread worldwide, adding to shipping delays and stretching order lead times as companies try to stock shelves for the holiday shopping season.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, local time, 40 vessels were waiting at anchor for a berth outside Ningbo, and an additional 30 container ships were parked outside the Port of Shanghai, according to Kuehne +...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/more-supply-chain-delays-as-ningbo-port-congestion-worsens

Port of Yantian productivity rapidly improves but export delays persist

Three big container vessels in a row at a port terminal, with cranes overhead.

The logjam of containers and ships at the Port of Yantian in China has noticeably improved in the 13 days since COVID-related safety restrictions were lifted and terminals resumed full-scale operations, but cascading delays could impact the peak holiday shipping season because dockworkers have so much cargo to dig out from, according to the world’s largest shipping line and freight data providers.

Shipping giant A.P. Møller – Maersk said in a customer notice Friday that yard density is down to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-of-yantian-productivity-rapidly-improves-but-export-delays-persist

Now 2M cuts delay-hit port of Liverpool from calls on transatlantic loop

The UK port of Liverpool will see calls by the 2M transatlantic loop it won from Felixstowe at the end of last year suspended until mid-May, as Maersk and MSC grapple to improve schedule reliability.
The 2M alliance said that, as a result of bad weather in the North Atlantic compounded by port congestion, it will temporarily suspend the Liverpool and New York calls of its TA2/NEUATL2 transatlantic loop for six …

The post Now 2M cuts delay-hit port of Liverpool from calls on transatlantic loop...

https://theloadstar.com/now-2m-cuts-delay-hit-port-of-liverpool-from-calls-on-transatlantic-loop/

More blank sailings ‘a harbinger’ of soaring rates on the transatlantic

Container spot rates on the transatlantic headhaul North Europe to North America east coast tradelane have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but have so far not seen the hyper-inflation impacting other routes.
According to Friday’s Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) reading, the price for a 40ft container on the route stood at $2,026, which is on par with the rate in April last year and compares with a low of $1,622 in September.
But …

The post More blank sailings ‘a harbinger’ of soaring rates on the...

https://theloadstar.com/more-blank-sailings-a-harbinger-of-soaring-rates-on-the-transatlantic/

Shipper credulity strained after 2M’s last-minute Asia-Europe blanking

The 2M alliance has announced a further blank sailing this week from Asia to North Europe to use the vessel on another service. 
The last-minute cancellation of the sailing of the 19,224 teu MSC Erica from Shanghai on 21 February is surprising, given that the ship is due at the port at 4am on Sunday in ballast and, according to a local report, is fully booked. 
MSC said the omission of its Griffin-branded service was …

The post Shipper credulity strained after 2M’s last-minute Asia-Europe...

https://theloadstar.com/shipper-credulity-strained-after-2ms-last-minute-asia-europe-blanking/

Fewer blanked sailings over Chinese New Year 2021 than ever before

Container carriers are expected to provide more deepsea capacity out of Asia over the Chinese New Year holiday, beginning 12 February, than in any other year.
Announced blank sailings for what is normally shipping’s slack season are far fewer this year than previously, according to data from liner database eeSea’s Blank Sailings Tracker.
It shows that, across the transpacific, Asia-Europe and transatlantic trades, just 1.7% and 0.6% of head haul sailings have …

The post Fewer blanked sailings...

https://theloadstar.com/fewer-blanked-sailings-over-chinese-new-year-2021-than-ever-before/

A look back at 2020 – the year that container supply chains collapsed

As an unparalleled year for container shipping draws to a close ocean carriers are popping champagne corks to celebrate record profits, while beleaguered shippers reel against skyrocketing freight rates and a broken supply chain.
2020’s annus horribilis for shippers threatens their very existence and has left relationships with carriers in tatters.
However, back in May, at the height of the pandemic, it was the container lines that were staring into the abyss …

The post A look back at 2020 – the...

https://theloadstar.com/a-look-back-at-2020-the-year-that-container-supply-chains-collapsed/

Aggressive voyage blanking was a matter of survival, claims Hapag-Lloyd CEO

Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen has defended criticism of the aggressive blanking strategy of ocean carriers at the start of the pandemic, saying that it was “a matter of survival”.
He said he did not expect to see many void sailings in the first quarter of next year, but warned of vessel “slidings” from the impact of port congestion.
“One of the challenges we have today is that we get many more …

The post Aggressive voyage blanking was a matter of survival, claims Hapag-Lloyd CEO appeared...

https://theloadstar.com/aggressive-voyage-blanking-was-a-matter-of-survival-claims-hapag-lloyd-ceo/

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