Ships currently en route to US east and gulf coast ports will likely anchor offshore, awaiting resolution of the ongoing labour strike, as turning back or rerouting to alternative destinations is impractical.

Ships currently en route to US east and gulf coast ports will be unable to divert and will likely anchor offshore, awaiting resolution of the ongoing labour strike, Peter Sand, Chief Shipping Analyst at Xeneta, explained. Given their position at sea, turning back or rerouting to alternative destinations, such as US west coast ports, is impractical.

“These ships cannot turn back and they cannot realistically re-route to the US west coast. Some may divert to ports in Canada or even Mexico east coast, but the vast majority will simply wait outside affected ports until the workers return,” Sand said.

“The consequences will be severe, not only through congestion at US ports, but importantly these ships will be delayed returning to the Far East for the next voyage. A strike lasting just one week will impact schedules for ships leaving the Far East on voyages to the US in late December and throughout January.”

Speaking on the impact of the strike, Port of LA CEO, Gene Seroka, said the timing of the strike couldn’t be any worse as the retail holiday season is around the corner. Seroka said that the big box retailers have had time to stock up their inventories ahead of time, expressing concern for small and medium-sized businesses which typically use the last 12 weeks before the holidays to make payroll and keep their business viable. The Port of Los Angeles has had a very strong peak season, having handled 960,597 TEU in August 2024, a 16% increase year-on-year and just over 20,000 TEU more than the port handled in July 2024.

Read more here: https://www.worldcargonews.com/news/2024/10/sand-ships-en-route-to-east-coast-will-have-to-wait-at-anchor-until-strike-ends/

Source: https://www.worldcargonews.com/