IF YOU woke up this morning feeling a little off, blame it on Friday the 13th… or maybe you just need an extra coffee! After a week of getting back into routines, it was a good time to take stock, note the important dates for the year, and feel a bit more organised before we blink and the year passes us by yet again.
The fast paced world of shipping has certainly kept us on our toes this week.
Blank sailings, sometimes referred to as “slides”, occur when a vessel/voyage simply does not depart as scheduled, and they’ve been coming thick and fast. With Lunar New Year approaching, carriers are now picking and choosing which sailings to run, often waiting until vessels are fuller before setting off, as volumes remain softer than ideal. (That was the simplified version!)
Staying in Asia, heavy berth congestion continues at Shanghai, Ningbo, and Nansha, with Southeast Asian ports like Port Klang and ports in Indonesia also experiencing delays.
The weather hasn’t exactly been making life easier in the Western Mediterranean. Terminals at Alge
Out at sea, vessels in the Bay of Biscay are facing tricky conditions, with another spell of severe weather expected from 13–15 February. Inland traffic is recovering slowly, with lingering congestion and flood impacts on trucks. Things are improving but expect a few more delays as the region works through these conditions.
Beyond blank sailings and rough weather, what’s else has been shaping the shipping news this week?
Here’s the Sydney Express alongside Patrick Terminals. She’s one of the larger container ships that visit Fremantle, measuring 300 metres long and 48 metres wide. This vessel was previously known as the Hanjin Switzerland and was operated by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, which filed for bankruptcy in late 2016. I'm sure some will remember how much this shook the industry!
Hope you all have a great weekend!