Today, the BRi Customer Solutions Team has issued the following statement:
Bad weather, vessel schedule alterations and industrial action at ports have all contributed to worsening congestion at the facilities since July.
Sydney’s storage areas are overflowing and at breaking point with shipping lines not answering phones or emails. - The situation has gone from bad to worse with most of the facilities looking to again close as we move further into 2021
As this continues transport companies in Sydney will not be able to de-hire containers until the congestion clears – meaning the importer will be left with the clean up costs!
Vessel scheduling continues to be a large issue, which is now being compounded by vehicle booking system and performance issues, due to a recent upgrade, and industrial action at Patrick Terminals, as well as cancellation of stack-runs into the terminal.
At this stage it is unclear how long the closures will continue or when this congestion will ease. We do know at this time that Sydney is a long way off from normal operational activities.
There is a similar bottleneck in Melbourne, where container terminals are also increasingly congested but it does appear to be easing slightly as the weeks progress.
Shipping schedule integrity and late changes remain challenging and this in turn is adding additional strain in Sydney. Adding to this is further scheduled MUA work stoppages being planned for February and March 2021
Neil Chambers, director of the Container Transport Alliance Australia, said shipping lines “want and need” to evacuate empties from Port Botany. “But poor weather, berth and terminal congestion, industrial disputes and a host of other factors have led to this situation,” he added. “It’s also highlighted the lack of empty storage capacity in Sydney to handle the peaks, despite some added capacity coming onstream recently.
For more information: brint.com.au