‘Heavy congestion’ in South-east Asia transhipment ports prompts feeder operators to levy surcharge
Vessels could be delayed at Singapore port by three days in the week to Apr 15, data from logistics platform GoComet shows
A GROUP of Asian feeder operators is imposing an emergency cost recovery surcharge to mitigate the “significant increase” in operational costs arising from “heavy congestion” at major transhipment ports in South-east Asia.
Westports Holdings, the main Port Klang operator, said the congestion has resulted from the interruptions in the Red Sea. Shipping schedules have been thrown into disarray.
A notice that the Asian Feeder Discussion Group (AFDG) took out on Friday (Apr 19) in The Business Times said that key ports in the region that handle the transportation of cargo moving from one vessel to another while in transit to the final destination are experiencing heavy congestion.
This contributed to extensive berth delays and extended port stay, the notice read, resulting in “significant vessel delays”. But AFDG did not mention the duration of the hold-ups in the notice.
Vessels could be delayed at the Singapore port by three days in the week to Apr 15, data from logistics platform GoComet showed, up from one day in the week of Mar 11.
A containership industry intelligence website, Linerlytica, has a post dated Apr 18 that said South-east Asia ports have seen increased congestion, with Singapore and Malaysia ports Tanjung Pelepas and Port Klang experiencing delays of one to two days.
Westports Holdings, an operator that has an 80 per cent market share of container traffic in Port Klang, told BT: “We have been experiencing above-average utilisation from time to time since the beginning of the year as a result of the interruptions in the Red Sea. The disruption to schedules has resulted in bunching of vessels at certain times.”
The congestion appears to be easing over the past month and should look to get better as services start to adjust to the longer routes, added the operator of the transhipment hub on Malaysia’s west coast.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels began their attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea in mid-November, forcing major liners to re-route away from the shortest Asia-Europe trade lane and make detour via South Africa instead.
BT has reached out to Singapore port operator PSA and feeder operator Samudera Shipping for comment but they have not responded by press time, while X-Press Feeders declined to comment.
Port congestion has led to AFDG members implementing contingency plans over the past weeks, according to the newspaper notice. They include multiple port omissions and speeding up of vessels in order to ensure schedules are intact and maintain adequate service coverage.
The grouping will thus be levying an emergency cost recovery surcharge on shipments from Singapore to 17 regional destinations, with the extra minimum cost ranging from US$40 to US$100 per direction for each laden 20-foot-equivalent-unit (TEU) container loaded from Apr 22.
For instance, the surcharge is a minimum US$40 for a laden TEU container for shipping from Singapore to Jakarta, and US$100 for transporting from the city-state to Karachi.
Empty containers will also need to pay the surcharge, but at half the rates, with the levy to apply until further notice by the group.
