In what cases will shipping companies choose to skip ports?
Port congestion:
Long-term severe congestion: Some large ports will have ships waiting for berthing for a long time due to excessive cargo throughput, insufficient port facilities, and low port operation efficiency. If the waiting time is too long, it will seriously affect the schedule of subsequent voyages. In order to ensure the overall shipping efficiency and stability of the schedule, shipping companies will choose to skip the port. For example, international ports such as Singapore Port and Shanghai Port have experienced severe congestion during peak cargo volume or when affected by external factors, causing shipping companies to skip ports.
Congestion caused by emergencies: If there are emergencies such as strikes, natural disasters, and epidemic prevention and control at ports, the port's operating capacity will drop sharply, and ships will be unable to berth and load and unload cargo normally. Shipping companies will also consider skipping ports. For example, South African ports were once paralyzed by cyber attacks, and shipping companies chose to skip ports to avoid delays.
Insufficient cargo volume:
The overall cargo volume on the route is small: If there is insufficient demand for cargo transportation on a certain route, the booking volume at a specific port is far lower than the loading capacity of the ship. From a cost perspective, the shipping company will consider that continuing to dock at the port may cause a waste of resources, so it will choose to skip the port. This situation is more common in some smaller, less busy ports or routes in the off-season.
The economic situation in the hinterland of the port has undergone major changes: The economic conditions in the hinterland of the port have undergone major changes, such as local industrial structure adjustment, economic recession, etc., resulting in a significant reduction in the import and export volume of goods. The shipping company may also adjust the route according to the actual cargo volume and skip the port.
Ship's own problems:
Ship failure or maintenance needs: The ship has a failure during the voyage and needs emergency repair or maintenance, and cannot arrive at the planned port on time. If the repair time is long, the shipping company may choose to skip the port and go directly to the next port to reduce the impact on subsequent voyages.
Ship deployment needs: According to the overall ship operation plan and deployment arrangement, shipping companies need to concentrate certain ships to specific ports or regions, and may choose to skip some ports originally planned to dock in order to dispatch ships to the required places more quickly.
Force majeure factors:
Bad weather: In extremely bad weather, such as typhoons, heavy rains, heavy fog, freezing, etc., the port's navigation conditions are seriously affected, and ships cannot berth and operate safely. Shipping companies can only choose to skip ports. This situation occurs in some ports that are greatly affected by climate, such as ports in Northern Europe, which are often affected by bad weather in winter.
War, political turmoil, etc.: Wars, political turmoil, terrorist activities, etc. in certain regions have threatened the operation of ports, or relevant countries and regions have implemented shipping control measures. In order to ensure the safety of ships and crews, shipping companies will avoid ports in these regions and choose to skip ports.
Cooperation and alliance arrangements:
Shipping alliance route adjustment: In order to optimize route layout, improve resource utilization and operational efficiency, shipping alliances formed between shipping companies will adjust the routes of their ships. In this case, some ports may be removed from the original routes, causing shipping companies to skip ports. For example, some shipping alliances may re-plan the ports of call on major routes from Asia to Europe, North America, etc. according to market demand and capacity allocation.
Cooperation issues with ports: If there are conflicts or disputes between shipping companies and ports in terms of fee settlement, service quality, and facility use, and they cannot be resolved in the short term, shipping companies may express dissatisfaction or exert pressure by skipping ports.
In Senghor Logistics’ service, we will keep abreast of the shipping company's route dynamics and pay close attention to the route adjustment plan so that we can prepare countermeasures in advance and feedback to customers. Secondly, if the shipping company notifies the port skipping, we will also notify the customer of possible cargo delays. Finally, we will also provide customers with shipping company selection suggestions based on our experience to reduce the risk of port skipping.
Post time: Oct-23-2024
