PROVIDING additional warehousing space and the ability to store full and empty containers during the pandemic is the aim of the COVID-19 Emergency Space Register established by Container Transport Alliance Australia.

CTAA director Neil Chambers said the Register was designed for use by anybody involved in the container transport logistics chain.

“Container freight logistics through Australia’s capital city ports has continued as an ‘essential service’, and since the return of manufacturing and logistics services in China to near normal capacity, loadings of imports to Australia have been relatively strong,” Mr Chambers said.

“The same can be said for many containerised export commodities, thankfully.”

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However forwarders and importers might experience the need for added warehousing or container storage space if the ‘customer’ end of their supply chain slows or stops due to economic conditions, or continued shutdown restrictions, Mr Chambers said.

“We stress that the Register has been developed to support a worst-case contingency,” he said.

“We expect that landside container transport logistics providers will find innovative ways to satisfy their direct customers’ storage and other logistics needs. However, in cases where storage space becomes tight, we think that the Register could assist industry to cope.”

Mr Chambers said that if nothing else, the Register was simply a listing of the capacities and capabilities of many hard-working landside logistics providers across Australia.

He said CTAA had been working closely with State Departments of Transport and port managers to consider contingency planning scenarios.

“A good example of this is the work undertaken with the Port of Melbourne to identify vacant land that could be used for full of empty container lay-down areas, or warehousing space in the port’s immediate hinterland,” he said.

The CTAA Register is ‘live’ and is to be frequently updated. Contact CTAA for more information.