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Hapag-Lloyd has announced changes in its Conosur (CON) service, which links the East and West Coast of South America.

Starting in mid-August 2021, the German carrier will withdraw Conosur main vessel operations from the ports in Puerto Madryn and Bahia Blanca, Argentina. Additionally, Hapag-Lloyd will deploy a feeder that will keep offering the service on a bi-weekly basis, performing transshipment operations in Montevideo (TPC and Montecon terminals), while connectivity to Asia, Europe and Latin America will not be affected.

Conosur is currently being deployed with seven vessels instead of the former eight vessels deployment, according to an announcement.

Hapag-Lloyd added the usual non-Argentinian operations will not be impacted, as vessels will keep the same berth windows and the Patagonia withdrawal will provide more flexibility in case of contingencies.

The last Conosur vessels calling Patagonia ports will be Bomar Beijing 134, calling Puerto Madryn and Bahia Blanca, on 16 and 21 August, respectively, while the first feeder vessels calling Patagonia ports will be Madrid Trader 134, calling Puerto Madryn, Bahia Blanca and Montevideo, on 27 August, 1 and 7 September, respectively.

Source: Container News

Hapag-Lloyd has published an operational update on North America’s port and terminals, as the congestion remains at high levels, while the peak season is close and is expected to cause additional challenges in the region.

“With the large number of congested ports and ships awaiting berths, please understand that the dates for arrivals/departures and cut-offs are constantly changing,” said the German carrier on its update on 10 August.

Los Angeles /Long Beach

There are currently 31 ships at anchor awaiting berths in LAX/LGB as of Friday, 6 August. All terminals remain and are expected to continue being extremely congested, while further spike in imports is expected as the peak season approaches.

Changes of destination (COD’s) and container “dig outs” are restricted due to lack of terminal space and customers are urged to continue to expedite the pickup of their import containers and inform any import COD requests at least four working days before the start of vessel operations.

However, local trucking delays have been reduced and are expected to continue improving.

The LAX/LGB rail operations from all terminals continue to deteriorate due to lack of rail capacity and railcars from both rail providers. This is affecting all on/off dock intermodal moves.

At the same time, off dock moves have been reduced to almost nil.

Oakland

Currently, there are five ships at anchor or drifting in the San Francisco Bay area as of 6 August, with the Port of Oakland continuing to move its cargo volume numbers toward record territory.

At the same time, more cargo presents enormous operating challenges for marine terminals and ocean carriers at the port. Current berthing delays are at 6-8 days, however, the port is expecting this to ease by the fall as more dockworkers are hired and trained in the coming weeks.

Export receiving windows are shrinking from four to three days in some cases to assist with volume on the terminal. Alternative night gate hours continue to have low trucker participation, while all berths remain occupied.

New York

Berth utilisation is high at all terminals due to vessels being off proforma and various lines introducing new services with the arrival delays being currently running upwards of two days.

Summer vacations continue to have an adverse effect on labor availability, yard turn times, and productivity throughout the port. Moreover, a slight uptick in Covid cases is being seen amongst port workers. Terminal yard utilisation is higher than last week as import dwell has started to increase, and empty stock levels are trending higher.

Gate turn times at a few terminals continue to be slightly over acceptable service levels due to yard congestion, while some terminals are offering Saturday gates to facilitate increased import deliveries.

Savannah

Currently, 13 ships are at anchor as of 6 August. Berth dredging will resume “tentatively” in August for CB08-CB09, while all berths are available except CB01 – continued maintenance.

Gate turn times have improved slightly over the last few weeks with more rubber tired gantries (RTG) working the stacks.

In the meantime, imports have dropped slightly making rail turn time at 48 hours. Finding balance with imports, exports and empties is the current issue, which has to be addressed, according to Hapag-Lloyd’s update.

Seattle

All Seattle/Tacoma terminals are operating at full capacity and now there are eight vessels at anchor awaiting berth as of 6 August.

Berthing delays are up to 10 days at this time due to heavy volumes, while vessel omissions and change of rotation are also expected due to the delays.

Saturday gates are now being offered to alleviate backlog of imports, according to Hapag-Lloyd, with the terminals not accepting empty containers until vessels sail making room for additional inventories.

Houston

There are currently five ships at anchor in Houston as of 6 August. The Port of Houston, which experienced a hardware failure from 27 to 30 July, was providing extended gate hours and Saturdays to help catch up.

At the moment, terminal import pads are full at Barbours Cut.

Additionally, the terminal is short of chassis needed for certain import discharge, while deadheading empty containers is needed but also delayed due to ships working with metered labor and gangs.

Vancouver, Prince Rupert

Berth fluidity in Vancouver has improved and productivity has increased at Global Container Terminals (GCT), while ships are still facing delays in the range of 5-7 days.

Montreal

All terminals are experiencing a shortage of labor, resulting in delays to ship schedules, according to Hapag-Lloyd, which reports that this is expected to continue throughout the summer months.

Halifax and Saint John

Hapag-Lloyd said that the average port days at the Port of Halifax are 1.8 days and at the Port of Saint John are 8.1 days.

Source: Container News

Hapag-Lloyd has announced several rate increases, which will take effect in August, for sailings starting from Asia ports.

Firstly, the German carrier will impose a General Rate Increase (GRI) of US$950 per TEU for all types of cargoes heading from the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent to the East Coast of South America. This GRI will begin on 1 August.

Two weeks later, the liner operator will implement a new ocean tariff rate increase of US$1,000 for all types and sizes of cargo, from the Indian Subcontinent to the Mediterranean, as follows:

Additionally, on 15 August, Hapag-Lloyd will apply the same ocean tariff rate increase from the Middle East and Pakistan to the Mediterranean ports for all cargoes, as well.

Moreover, the Hamburg-based box line will push up its rates for all dry boxes from the Indian Subcontinent to Rotterdam and London Gateway, effective from 15 August, as follows:

Lastly, effective from the same date, the updated Hapag-Lloyd prices for dry containers from the Middle East and Pakistan to North Europe will be as follows:

Source: Container News