Dark side of mega ships

Ports in Asia that were previously thought to be immune to congestion have succumbed to delays as a result of upscaled ship sizes, proving that calls of larger ships are placing unsustainable pressures on ports.

Speaking at the JOC conference in London today, Mr Lutje said: “All carriers have now found out the dark side of the larger ladies. Carriers are aware of this and I’m optimistic that schedule reliability is now priority number one.”

So-called ‘hyper peaks’ caused by calls from these larger ships are leading to a decrease in port productivity, added TIL head Laurent Martens.

“Ports need to adapt: adapt the port’s operations to deal with ‘hyper peaks’; investment in equipment; and optimise preparation of calls.”

He also highlighted the conflict between ship and terminal planners as a driver for operational issues at ports today.