Problems continue! The conflict between Russia and Ukraine caused the suspension of European freight forwarding ports

After the congestion, the shipping industry encountered new problems: the conflict between Russia and Ukraine caused the suspension of operations at European freight forwarding ports; the situation at ports in the western United States was alleviated somewhat; the Indian port was attacked by cyber attacks, and port problems continued.

Russia-Ukraine conflict causes freight forwarding ports to stop operating and ships to change routes

Recently, the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has attracted widespread attention, and the conflict has also had a serious impact on the operations of European aviation, shipping and port terminals.

It is understood that on February 24, local time , the Ukrainian National Guard Headquarters was destroyed. The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has also caused many shipping and freight forwarding companies to adjust their work plans. In order to ensure the safety of the company's employees, related shipping and freight forwarding work has been suspended .

In addition, a military unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Odessa was also attacked by bombers on the 24th. The city has Ukraine's largest port, the Port of Odessa . As one of the largest ports on the Black Sea coast, the port handles about 70% of Ukraine's import and export transportation volume. However, due to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict, the port's operations have been suspended .

Recently, a Turkish cargo ship was hit by a "bomb" on its way from the port of Odessa in southern Ukraine in the Black Sea . This news also caused panic among people in the cross-border shipping field .

At present, many ships originally planned to go to the port of Odessa have urgently adjusted their routes, changed their waterways , and some ships have even returned.

Recently, employees at container terminals in Ukrainian seaports were also forced to stop working. The above news has had a certain impact on European shipping with recent shipment demand, and may cause shipping delays or cargo detention .

In addition to sea transportation, this incident also has a certain impact on the China-Europe express trains. It is understood that the trains from China to Russia are not affected at present, and the import and export trains from Central Asia are operating normally. However, China's train transportation through Ukraine through Europe has been affected, and trains transiting through other countries to Ukraine have been suspended.

Moreover, DB SCHENKER, a global international freight forwarding company , also stated that due to the intensification of the border conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the company has asked all Ukrainian employees to stay at home and suspend operations, and all freight forwarding services to Ukraine have been terminated.

In addition to the various conditions in European port shipping caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation at ports on the east and west coasts of the United States is also constantly changing.

The West Coast ports of the United States have temporarily eased, but the East Coast ports are congested

In the past two years, congestion at west coast ports in the United States has exacerbated the global supply chain shortage, while also causing shipping costs to soar to "sky-high" levels, increasing sellers' input costs.

However, according to recent news from foreign media, the number of container ships at the two major ports in the United States, Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, has dropped to 66 on the 23rd of this month , and this number was last seen in September last year . Compared with the previous peak season queues, the drop to 66 can be considered good news.

As for the Asia-North America route, the relief of congestion at the West Coast ports of the United States is related to factors such as extreme weather and the Chinese New Year holiday. At the beginning of this year, due to extreme weather, some cargo shipped to the port was delayed, and coupled with the holiday, the number of ships traveling on the route decreased, and the congestion situation improved.

But this situation cannot last long. Starting from March, the port is expected to face an increase in the number of ships queuing again in the three months. According to Sea-Intelligence, a global supply chain service provider, it is worth noting the growth in March and April 2022.

Compared with the relative improvement of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, the East Coast of the United States also began to be congested in the second half of last year.

In order to avoid congestion at ports on the west coast of the United States, many carriers choose to ship goods to the east coast of the United States, which has also driven up freight rates on routes from the east coast of the United States to Asia. Years ago, ports in the east of the United States such as New York and New Jersey, Savannah, and Charleston also encountered congestion due to the increasing volume of cargo they received due to sharing the cargo flow from the west coast of the United States.

Sea-Intelligence said that in the coming months, the number of ships on the Asia to North America East Coast trade route will increase by 60% , which will seriously increase the pressure on the East Coast port infrastructure. This also shows to some extent that the congestion of US ports has not ended, and the relevant shippers still need to make long-term plans.

Another noteworthy issue is that the agency stated in a recent report that from July 2022 to February 2023, the number of containers returning to US warehouses was nearly 30% greater than the ship capacity capable of transporting them back to Asia. The handling of empty containers on the import end will become another problem after the supply chain recovers.

In addition to the United States, ports elsewhere are also facing problems.

Indian port suffers cyber attack, system completely disrupted

Recently, India's JNPT container terminal was suspected to have been attacked by ransomware, causing a complete system outage .

JNPT was put into operation in 1989 and handles nearly half of India's total container freight. The terminal that was attacked this time is JNPCT, one of the five terminals . JNPCT is the oldest terminal of JNPT and can handle about 1.5 million TEUs of containers per year, but due to insufficient investment in infrastructure upgrades and intensified competition from peers, the number of containers handled by the terminal has been decreasing.

After the incident, the port authorities are also working to restore key operating systems. Regarding people's concerns about cargo disruptions, staff said that it will not be affected, the other four terminals are still in normal operation, and JNPCT's ships will be transferred to other terminals .

With the rapid development of global e-commerce, Indian ports are also booming. It is reported that for JNPT Port, container traffic increased by 25.9% to 5.63 million TEUs in 2021, and the total cargo volume reached 76.14 million tons, which is also the highest import and export container traffic handled by Indian ports.

This cyberattack is not an isolated case. This is the second time in less than a year that regional ports have suffered a ransomware attack. In July 2021, Transnet, which operates the Durban Container Terminal in South Africa, also suffered a ransomware attack, forcing the port to suspend most operations . Due to the severity of the situation, Transnet declared force majeure. The attack also included Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Ngqura, and disrupted operations for nearly two weeks.

As early as June 2017, Maersk suffered a serious cyber attack, resulting in a loss of about $300 million . CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping and other shipping companies have also suffered cyber attacks. JNPT has not yet reported the latest progress on the source of this attack , but the successive attacks have also reminded the industry to pay more attention to cybersecurity issues.

Affected by multiple factors such as the epidemic and congestion, it is inevitable to encounter various difficulties in the shipping process. After the goods are shipped, sellers must also pay attention to logistics dynamics in a timely manner.

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