Kuehne+Nagel aims to provide the most up-to-date port operational information so you can make more informed decisions for your cargo. Our weekly port update summarises events impacting global port operations this past week and what should be considered when planning future shipments.

Africa and the Middle East

Egypt

Suez Canal: After several attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, carriers have re-routed ships around the Cape of Good Hope.

Shortly after opting to resume transits through the Suez Canal, Maersk decided to halt transits for 48 hours following an attack against one of its boxships: Maersk Hangzhou.

At the moment, the carrier continues assessing the situation for each vessel. The latest update about vessels diverted to sail via the Cape of Good Hope can be found here.

South Africa

South African ports continue to witness relatively long vessel waiting times. Durban's 7-day average vessel waiting time reached nearly eight days this week and five days in Cape Town.

Asia

India

Truckers in India started a strike at the beginning of this year in protest against a revised provision that raises the jail punishment for hit-and-run to 10 years. They described the provision as excessive.

However, on Tuesday, 2 January, the union representing the drivers met with the government, which promised it would not implement the provision before consultation with the union.

Japan

Japan was hit by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on New Year, causing significant damage to buildings and loss of lives. Local news reports high waves in the aftermath of the earthquake.

According to local news, Kanazawa Port experienced 40 centimetres of waves, and several boats capsized at the city's port.

Transport disruption in Ishikawa, Niigata, Fukui, Toyama, and Gifu is likely in the next few days.

Europe

Stormy weather conditions this week caused operational stops at ports across northern Europe.

Denmark

Kuehne+Nagel sources reported that a snowstorm closed terminal operations in Denmark today. Both the Aarhus and Copenhagen ports reported closure for the remainder of today.

Operations are expected to resume tomorrow. However, a backlog of vessels and container handling delays are expected in the next few days.

Netherlands

Weather conditions also affected Rotterdam's Maasvlakte terminal, where operations were suspended from 2 January at 8:00 pm to 3 January at 1:00 am.

Heavy rain and strong winds continue today in the Netherlands and North Europe, and disrupted operations will likely re-occur.

UK

In the UK, operations at Southampton and London Gateway ports halted on Tuesday, 2 January, due to high winds.

The Port of Felixstowe was briefly closed, and landslide operations were suspended. Operations were partially resumed today, but the situation remains subject to change.

North America

Canada

Montreal: Several meetings took place in December, with more planned this month to discuss the contracts of Port Montreal workers.

Fears of strikes were raised last year given that the workers' labour contracts expired on 31 December. However, deliberations continue between the Maritime Employers Association and the workers' unions. No strike is expected until February.

USA

US-Mexico border: After a 5-day closure of rail traffic over railway crossing bridges in El Paso and Eagle Pass, officials decided to reopen the borders late last month. The closure of the crossings caused significant disruption to rail freight.

Central and Latin America

Argentina

Bloomberg reported that the country's top unions are calling for a nationwide strike on 24 January to protest against the president's plans to deregulate the country's economy, change its voting system and reduce social safety nets.

According to the report, workers all over the country will walk out from their work and take to the streets around Congress in Buenos Aires to demonstrate. Port operations and transport disruptions are likely to occur during the strike.

Oceania

Australia

The industrial action at DP World terminals in Australia has been extended to 15 January. The situation has seen no improvement since it started on 7 October 2023.

DP World employees at the ports of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle continue to witness disrupted operations. The strikes include bans on loading and unloading trucks and trains and overtime and shift extensions.

Work stoppages ranging from 2 to 24 hours are also planned next week. For details about scheduled disruptions, please refer to the latest Kuehne+Nagel advisory.