The import peak season is beginning to pick up and, although the volumes have not yet peaked in the same way as this time last year, the Auckland supply chain will face familiar challenges.
Impacts from late scheduled vessel arrivals, container exchange limitations due to reduced berth windows causing rolling of containers and yard congestion have all played a major role in the timely movement of containers through the ports.
The ANL trans-Tasman service has had a challenging run of delays in Australia, mainly due to weather and the North Asia services are projected to bring two ships in a row several days late as a consequence of bad weather in North Asia. Import discharge profiles on the mainline services are increasing, which is a sign that the import peak season is building.
Empty Container parks are reporting no major operational constraints so far, with the exception of Manukau container park which is at 82% capacity. Shipping lines have added a couple of additional vessels to assist with evacuation of empty containers.
Against this back drop it is timely to remind you that we require at least 48 hours’ notice of pending shipments and empty dehire requests.
Where we can, we will dehire direct to the nominated empty yard as advised; where we are unable to do so we will hub them at Wiri inland port (WIP) and there will be a hub charge when this occurs. We suggest you talk to your shipping lines to arrange additional detention days if required and to maintain up-to-date communications on rolled containers and vessel arrivals.
We cannot be held responsible for demurrage and/or detention incurred due to late documentation, MPI, line holds or the inability of a container yard to accept an empty.
We are confident we have the people, systems and process to ensure this year’s peak period goes smoothly. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our customer services team.