Customer advisory // impact of the Suez Canal blockade

Dear Madam or Sir,

The “Ever Given” is finally set free and will be checked for seaworthiness. The Suez Canal has been reopened for navigation. Is everything fine now? – Unfortunately not, especially the export industry will have to work with the consequences over the months.

Below we have stated some information for you and your customers to get a better understanding of the whole situation.

The current situation:

• The backlog of vessels in the canal will be eliminated within next four to seven days.
• Several vessels have started their journey around the “Cape of Good Hope”. This leads to an approximate transit time extension of roughly 10 days per vessel.
• About 100 vessels will arrive in Europe at the same time which cannot be handled by the European Ports, which will lead to port congestions.
• The existing equipment shortage will be even worsened as it is already.

How does the carrier react:

• -A large number of shipping companies have announced booking stops. New bookings can only be placed as soon as a concrete solution to the situation has been worked out and if they can be sure about vessel arrival.
• -All shipments on the “EVER GIVEN” are initially ‘on hold’. In some cases, existing bookings on other ships are already being canceled by the shipping companies in order to get back on track.
• Various shipping companies no longer release empty container because the arrival and schedule in Europe is unclear. Therefore loadings may have to be canceled and rescheduled on short notice.
• The first shipping company (CMA-CGM) charges an equipment imbalance surcharge (EIS) of 50.00 EUR per container starting first of April. Other shipping companies are already planning this and will tend to follow in the coming days.
• Spot and Short Term Agreements with Maersk were terminated with immediate effect and can no longer be used for bookings, as the shipping company expects a significant loss of space in the next few weeks.
• Vessel owners hardly provide any equipment for exports. They reserve the right to use incoming equipment exclusively for carriers haulage bookings
• First shipping companies introduced a cancellation fee of EUR 50.00 per container if the cancellation time is less than 18 days before the ship departs.
• ONE introduces a documentation fee of 22 EUR per B/L, which we will be charged separately to every new and existing booking starting with immediate effect.

Pre and On-carriage:

• The European hinterland traffic and also the ports cannot handle the arriving ships at the same time, which will delay vessels even further.
• Rail and trucking companies are introducing a port congestion surcharge with a validity from April 1st, 2021 (loading date). Brelog will invoice an average market value of EUR 25.00 per container.
• The waiting time regulation will be tightened even further with immediate effect. Two hours of loading are free for each container. Waiting time for the third hour will be 50,00 EUR for each half hour until the end of the third hour. From the beginning of the fourth hour, the waiting time is 60.00 EUR per half hour. In the event of a further delay, the truck will be withdrawn at the cost of the shipper. The reason is the lack of driver capacity which will occur within next weeks.

The forecast:

• We are happy to continue accepting your bookings and will place them as soon as possible.
• Long-term effects will still be felt in the coming months.
• New peak season surcharges and rate increases are to be expected in the next few months.
• Due to the greatly increased internal workload (various rebooking’s and the associated rescheduling of the shipments), we will charge a processing fee of EUR 35.00 per rescheduling of each booking.

We will keep you informed about the latest developments. The entire BRELOG team works to ensure that your transports are handled as smoothly as possible. Please contact us at any time.

Your BRELOG-Team