Suspension of feeder services in China puts pressure on maritime logistics

There will be a disruption in the logistics of several ports in China due to the suspension of feeder services in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) from January 20 to February 21,

An analysis carried out by the dispatcher Eternity Mexico revealed that the affected region includes the ports of Zhongshan, Xiaolan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Shunde, Rongqi, Sanshan, Beijiao, Foshan, Jiujiang, Sanshui, Gaoming, Huangpu, Qingyuan, Nanhai, Yunfu, Zhaoqing, Sanrong, Gaoyao, Zhanjiang, and Wenzhou.

According to the company, the reason for the rupture is the fact that most services operate international connections (via or to Hong Kong), and their crews, who have been on board for more than 9 or 10 months, need to carry out at least one 14-day quarantine before returning home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families.

For Eternity Mexico, the traditional congestion for the Chinese New Year (CNY) will be “severely affected” by this new measure.  Also, there is a scarcity of empty containers so that the impact on the cargo flows of the Pearl River Delta which uses feeder connection services, “will be very big”.

The company pointed out that a possible solution would be to decompress the cargo flows from the mentioned ports using land transport to the base ports (for example Chiwan, Shekou, Yantian, and Nansha), but it must be noted that it will be very difficult to get the trucks to these locations. Also, their cost will increase considerably, not only because of the demand for trucks but also because of the additional distances that must be covered to obtain the empty containers and return them full to the port.

“It is also important to highlight that the operation of the referred base ports will also be affected in terms of the port of entry times”, explained the company.

Sources: GrupoT21 Drafting and Portal Portuário

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