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Shanghai's Yangshan hit by massive congestion as dock chaos spreads

SHRINKING capacity, dense fog and bad weather has resulted in serious congestion at the Shanghai-Yangshang ports causing ships to divert when they cannot make berthing windows.

"Our vessels have been impacted by the congestion at the Yangshan due to bad weather," Maersk told American Shipper, adding that many ships remain at sea waiting for conditions to improve before attempting to enter the harbour.

Nicolas Vittori, network manager for France-based Setcargo, also blamed carrier over booking. "Containers Chinese exporters deliver are left stranded at the port without being loaded onto ships," he said.

The congestion is aggravated by a recent shortage in container capacity in the eastbound Europe-Asia trade, which prompted the European Shippers' Council (ESC) to issue a warning in March of trouble ahead.

From April 1, the number of mega alliances fell from four to three, leaving "THE" Alliance, the OCEAN Alliance and the 2M still standing - and the members of the east-west vessel sharing agreements are still rationalising their networks in the face of new demands.

"The disorder has a more serious impact than the one caused by the installation of the alliances two years ago," said the ESC. "And it comes after the Hanjin bankruptcy."

Europe-to-Asia shippers are faced with being unable to meet their contractual obligations or to offer boarding slots before May, the council said.

Container booking prices have spiked as much as 45 per cent in the trade, and 2M alliance members have stopped accepting orders due to the capacity shortfall.

"This translates into missed sales, stock failure and significant extra costs as some exporters are trying to circumvent these obstacles by using other modes," the ESC said.