North Europe’s ports face further congestion as alliances hit schedule reliability

    Jul.1--The major North European ports likely will face further congestion in the coming months as carrier alliances continue to have an impact on the reliability of service schedules, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

　　Rotterdam and Hamburg, Europe’s two largest container ports, are currently experiencing “significant” congestion, which was last seen during the global container boom of the early to mid-2000s, the London-based analyst said.

　　There are numerous causes, including the upgrading of facilities in the two ports and greater volume peaks caused by larger ships that strain terminal capacity, “but poor carrier schedule reliability is high on the list,” Drewry said.

　　If ships arrive “out of window,” terminals may not have a berth available or the necessary number of cranes to handle their cargo efficiently.

　　Average reliability across all carriers on the Asia-Europe trade has dropped from a high of 83 percent on-time port calls — within 24 hours of the advertised date published before loading — in mid-2012 to just 51 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

　　Higher volume peaks and poor schedule reliability are reported to have doubled the average dwell time for containers in Hamburg, which is compounded by delays in handling rail and truck cargoes.

　　Trucking firms have imposed a traffic congestion surcharge of €40 ($55) per haul within Hamburg city limits and €80 beyond the city boundary.

　　Congestion has prompted carriers to switch services and levy surcharges. The G6 Alliance recently transferred the German port call for its PA1 trans-Atlantic/trans-Pacific service from Hamburg to Bremerhaven. Team Lines, a leading feeder operator, has warned of delays of up to 48 hours in Rotterdam and told shippers it may omit calls and impose surcharges.

　　Several factors, including bad weather, have been responsible for the recent decline in carriers’ reliability, Drewry said. “However, dysfunctional networks due to the implementation of new or extended alliance arrangements are also a key factor,” it added.

　　The process of altering services, ships and partners appears to have had a significant adverse impact as carriers shuffle ships, highlighted by the expansion of the G6 Alliance into the trans-Atlantic and the addition of Evergreen to the CKYH alliance on the Asia-Europe route.

　　The outlook in the northern European port range has improved with two new deep- sea terminals due to open in Rotterdam later in the year while the new German deep-sea container port in Wilhelmshaven remains an underutilized asset. Moreoever, the collapse of the P3 Network, which would have affected the schedule reliability of its three members — Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM — is no longer an issue.

　　But the volume peaks caused by larger ships will remain a problem, and further alliance developments seem likely, despite the P3’s demise.

　　“Many issues relating to long import dwell times also still have to be resolved. They may no longer have been important during the economic depression, but cargo growth is back, so they are on the front burner again,” Drewry said.