Delays are starting to ease at the Port of Rotterdam because of the short term measures put in place last month, but new research shows that schedule reliability to the port plummeted this summer because of the congestion.
Logistics software firm CargoSmart analysed the schedule reliability of routes from Hong Kong and Shanghai to Rotterdam from mid-May through mid-August, based on 20 major carriers’ schedules.
It found that average reliability for the Hong Kong-Rotterdam route was 54% from 11 May to 14 June, but this declined to 39% in the period from 20 July 20 to 16 August.
Average reliability for the Shanghai-Rotterdam route also dropped to 29% in the same period, compared with average reliability of 37%.
At one point during the summer congestion was so bad at the port that Hapag-Lloyd diverted multiple voyages on one of its Asia-Europe services to Antwerp, while other carriers introduced congestion surcharges.
Congestion at Rotterdam this summer has been blamed on a multitude of sins including the late arrival of deep-sea container vessels and labour shortages. Berthing delays at Rotterdam’s ECT Delta terminal were attributed to the installation of five new quay cranes and other equipment. This caused some cargo to divert to nearby Antwerp.
In August, Rotterdam announced emergency measures to eliminate congestion at the port.
Measures included shuttling containers between the Port of Moerdijk (MCT) and Maasvlakte to ease congestion and using the Uniport Terminal to “bundle” inland shipping containers together to help create greater efficiently at Maasvlakte.
Rotterdam Port Authority said it continues to work intensively with the container sector on structural handling improvements for the longer term.
