Industry Update December 2023

Welcome to our December edition and we would like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday period. Our updates for this month:?

General update?

Panama Canal – The surcharges imposed by the authorities due to the restricted movement through the canal is now being passed on by the shipping lines. MSC has already implemented a surcharge and from January 2024 Hapag Lloyd & Cosco will also introduce a Panama Canal Surcharge (PCC).?

Reference articles: Loadstar - shipping lines divert to Suez Canal due to restrictions at Panama Canal

RED SEA & Suez Canal – The Red Sea shipping route is an important one as it is considered to be the superhighway to the Suez Canal. Over the last weeks there have been increasing attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea and due to the deteriorating security situation, several shipping lines have paused or are removing sailings. Some shipping lines are diverting vessels around Africa’s west coast and Cape of Good Hope.?

To take advantage of the increase of traffic due to the Panama Canal restrictions the Suez Canal authorities recently announced that from the 15th January there would be an increase of 5 – 15% and the situation in the Red Sea will now mean that war risk surcharges could be imposed.?

A number of countries including the UK (Sky News article) and USA (Splash article) will provide naval support to provide security for the area.?

Reference articles: BBC - Shipping Lines pause Red Sea journeys over attacks, Suez Canal price increases?

Malaysia: As a response to the war In Gaza, the Malaysian government announced on Wed 20th Dec that they will not permit any Israel-flagged ships to enter their ports, in addition they will ban any ship on its way to Israel from loading cargo in Malaysian ports, both restrictions are effective immediately.?

South Africa: Congestion continues at the South African ports, and this is forcing shipping lines such as Maersk and CMA to remove the South African ports from their sailing schedules. The congestion is mainly due to the shortage and breakdowns of equipment but also due to adverse weather conditions. Durban has been worst affected with delays of up to 9 days, Cape Town has seen some improvement, but it is thought that this is due to a drop in cargo volume. It is hoped that the congestion (currently 96 delayed vessels) can be cleared by the end of Jan / beg of Feb 2024.?

Reference articles: Loadstar - South Africa Port Congestion?

Sustainability?

Tips from WFF on how we can have a Greener Christmas and still enjoy the festive period.?

Our commitment: As always, our move management teams will continue to work proactively with the families moving and our corporate contacts to keep everyone updated. We will continue to review and improve our processes to achieve cost efficiencies without impacting the quality of service. We continue to encourage flexibility from all parties when scheduling packing and delivery schedules and we remain committed to our clients and to meeting expectations.?

Your commitment: We continue to ask our clients and partners to provide us with new initiations as early as possible. It is important to continue to work in this way as this will assist us to understand and meet the needs of the transferee and the transit time requirements, also to set realistic expectations at the beginning of the relocation journey. If you have any questions, please reach out to your account manager or customer services contact.?

Proactive communication: As always communication remains key and whilst it is difficult to predict all the developments and consequences, we remain actively involved in industry associations on all continents to ensure that we are prepared to serve our clients in the current market conditions. The combined effort of our supply chain and logistics teams along with The Harmony Relocation Network allows us to continue to create and expand operating capabilities.?

We will continue to keep you updated and please reach out on any questions.?

Happy Holidays?

Pauline Collins – Supply Chain Manager?