Newsletter: February 25, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Ukrainian airspace closes while impact on trade expected

aircargonews.net
Ukrainian airspace has been closed as navigation services declare the region an active conflict zone.
Early this morning, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a conflict zone information bulletin covering Kiev, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Simferopol and Odessa flight information regions for all altitudes. Read more here. 

Unconfirmed Reports Suggest The Worlds Largest Plane Has Been Destroyed

simpleflying.com
Unconfirmed reports from Ukraine suggest that the world’s largest aircraft has been destroyed. The Antonov An-225 is based at Hostomel Airport (GML). According to flight data, the plane registered as UR-82060 is currently at the airport, having last landed there on February 5th, 2022. Read more here. 

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Bargaining over West Coast ports labor pact puts retailers on edge

freightwaves.com
Port congestion that has snarled supply chains for more than a year could soon get worse if negotiations for a new contract between West Coast port operators and dockworkers don’t go smoothly. The rocky history between management and the stevedoring union has shippers buckling in for a stomach-churning year of late shipments, stockouts and soaring transportation costs. Read more here.  

Port congestion contagion spreads

splash247.com
The global nature of the container port congestion saga, which has dogged supply chains during the pandemic, is illustrated clearly today with data from consultancy eeSea.
The Danish firm has sent Splash a map (see below) charting the congestion hotspots around the world, an image that clearly shows boxes are backing up across almost every tradelane, and that the issue is not simply one dominated by North America. Read more here.

Coast eases, East Coast worsens

freightwaves.com
The good news on U.S. port congestion: The number of container ships waiting for berths in Los Angeles/Long Beach has continued to decline, falling to 66 on Wednesday — as low as it was back in mid-September.
The bad news: Other indicators point to ongoing challenges for West Coast ports and a potential resurgence in queue numbers in March, April and May. Meanwhile, the number of ships waiting offshore of East and Gulf Coast ports is hitting new highs, and sailing schedules show that these ports will also see imports surge over the coming months. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Truck queues lengthen as Nhava Sheva tries to restore IT after cyber-attack

theloadstar.com
Long truck queues have become more frequent at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Nhava Sheva), India’s top container gateway, as it battles to restore digital systems blanked by a cyber-attack on Sunday.
According to local port sources, the chief reason for growing truck congestion is a sudden spike in loads heading to DP World Nhava Sheva, with ripple effects inevitably flowing into the entire supply chain system. Read more here (login required).

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Canada’s Prince Rupert Port exploring addition of second container terminal

splash247.com
DP World and the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) have entered into a two-year agreement to assess the feasibility of a new container terminal project in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The potential project would add up to 2m teu of annual capacity to the Port of Prince Rupert, increasing Canadian trade capacity with Asia-Pacific markets. Read more here.

Vancouver to ban scrubber discharges

splash247.com
The Port of Vancouver will limit the discharge of scrubber wash water from next month.
As of March 1, ships that are anchored in the port or moored at a berth will be banned from discharging scrubber wash water. Read more here. 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Food and metal shipments are left stranded in Ukraine chaos

ajot.com
Commodity exports from Ukraine, one of the world’s most important grain suppliers, were thrown into chaos after Russia’s invasion forced ports and railways to start closing.
Traders could no longer book vessels to move goods in and out of the nation’s ports, people familiar with the matter said. However, some vessels already at ports were still being loaded to completion as of Thursday evening local time, and expected to depart, one person said. One of the biggest rail users said the government had suspended operations.  Read more here.