Asian container port congestion

In an interview with Containerisation International, two executives from the intra-Asia carrier, MCC Transport said that schedule reliability is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain because of congestion.

Naresh Potty, chief commercial officer, MCC, said that Manila was the worst affected port but that Hong Kong, Shanghai, Qingdao, Incheon and Cat Lai in Ho Chi Minh City are also badly affected.

He added that the vessel sharing agreements for cargo with several carriers being carried on a single ship has greatly increased the number of inter-terminal transfers.

Continued congestion is increasing costs because he said that vessels are having to wait for days outside terminals.

The danger is that the carriers may have to look at overcoming the problem by omitting ports from their schedules.