An update from the Ports of Auckland regarding the Fergusson Terminal.
Thank you to everyone for working with us over the past few weeks as we continue to work our way through this busy period.
Whilst operations have almost returned to normal and we have managed to reinstate the shipping line berth windows but we continue to be challenged by a number of factors.
In summary:
- Yard capacity is restricted as we build towards automation which will provide more capacity in the medium to longer term.
- Yard congestion, particularly on Mondays is impacted by heavy import discharges over the weekend, some delays in shipping schedules and limits to delivery of imports to customers on weekends.
- We are continuing to operate with a tight labour supply and have to manage vessel operations with road/rail demand.
- This is a strong pre-Christmas import peak season and now seeing the supply chain struggling with over stocks of empty containers in the Auckland market needing evacuation.
As much as we want to increase the road and rail throughput with the above factors in mind we need to keep balancing the demands of the shipside and road side operations. We are very appreciative of the efforts the road transport community is making in managing within the limits of our collective operations.
As a consequence of the ongoing pressures in the supply chain and our own limitations, we have decided to extend the demurrage free time period by another day for vessels that arrived from the 15th October 2018 onwards. We will extend the Last Free Days for all vessels by one day, effective immediately, and to be re-instated again on 1 December 2018.
There will be no extra free time for DG containers or active reefer containers which should continue to be prioritised.
As always, please contact the Customer Service Team for issues you may have with specific containers.