Newsletter: March 16, 2022

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Evergreen calls in salvor team to free trapped Ever Forward

theloadstar.com
Casualty consultant WK Webster (WKW) has said that salvage security is no longer required, but it is possible that Ever Forward vessel owner Evergreen will declare General Average for grounded containership.
According to WKW, professional salvors have been appointed by Evergreen to help refloat the ship, out of action since Sunday after running aground in Chesapeake Bay, US. Read more here (login required).

Container Rates Climb On China Lockdowns

gcaptain.com
By Kevin Varley and Ann Koh (Bloomberg) The number of container ships waiting off Qingdao, one of China’s biggest ports, is continuing to rise as the country doubles down on its Covid Zero policy, adding more delays to a strained global supply chain.
About 72 vessels were spotted off Qingdao port in Shandong Monday, almost double the amount at the end of February, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg. The increased delays there and in other parts of China are expected to push up freight rates. Read more here. 

Wan Hai levies $30,000 per container fine for misdeclared hazardous cargo

splash247.com
Taiwan’ Wan Hai Lines said it would fine clients up to $30,000 per container for misdeclaration of cargo, joining Singapore-based carrier Pacific International Lines (PIL) who announced similar measures last month.
Wan Hai said that if the declarations and shipping forms and documents enclosed are not true and not accurate, the company has the right to immediately stop or suspend the delivery of the cargoes or terminate the contract of delivery for the cargoes at any time during the carriage. Read more here.

Ship queues developing at key Chinese ports

splash247.com
Ships are building up at important Chinese ports as China’s strict zero-Covid policy rattles supply chains once again.
While Beijing has made contingencies to keep ports operating during Covid outbreaks, the same cannot be said of the thousands of factories that are having to down tools with workers told to head home for lockdown periods of seven days. Read more here. 

Maersk subpoenaed as part of US probe into ‘supply chain collusion’

theloadstar.com
Maersk has told The Loadstar its subpoena by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is tied to an “ongoing investigation into supply chain disruption”.
However, with no official announcement or response from the DOJ to requests for comment, there is scant detail on why the world’s second-largest container line has been subpoenaed. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Canadian Pacific, Teamsters still negotiating wages, benefits

freightwaves.com
Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) are still negotiating over the terms of a new collective agreement, both sides said early Wednesday.
Should negotiations fail, TCRC members could go on strike following a 72-hour advanced strike notice to CP (NYSE: CP). The union confirmed it has not yet issued that notice that it would conduct a work stoppage. Read more here. 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

New wave of inflation – and disruptions – hits U.S. factory floors

reuters.com
March 14 (Reuters) – Surging inflation is disrupting everything from carpools to the ability to quote prices on new business at already-strained U.S. factories.
At BCI Solutions Inc., a metal foundry in Bremen, Indiana, 14 workers quit in the last two weeks – over 7% of its total workforce and an unprecedented number compared with pre-pandemic times. BCI has long struggled to hold workers but never lost that many in such a short span. Read more here. 

Trains and planes take the strain as Ukraine war impacts supply chains

theloadstar.com
European supply chains are coming under increasing strain as war in Ukraine moves towards its third week with limited signs of resolution.
Supply chain consultancy Woodland Group told The Loadstar it was seeing the impact intensify across all transport modes as the sector makes efforts to minimise disruption in an already disrupted market. Read more here (login required).