Happy New Year and welcome to our January newsletter

Below are details of some important matters that are currently impacting global shipping

Red Sea Situation

Due to the recent attacks on several cargo vessels in the Middle East, most carriers have decided to avoid the Red Sea and will no longer be using the Suez Canal as part of their routes, as this area is deemed unsafe for vessels and their crews.
Therefore, carriers will have their vessels rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope and this will add many days to the transit times, as this is a much longer route and will ultimately delay vessels and increase costs.  

While these measures are only temporary, all carriers have advised with immediate effect, that they will be implementing various surcharges or contingency fees to help recover costs for the rerouting of their vessels, as per this link to a recent notice we’ve received from CMA CGM.
Hopefully this situation will be resolved soon with shipping moving back through the Suez Canal, but for the time being, please be prepared for shipping delays and additional costs for cargo coming moving from or to Europe and the Middle East.

Rate Restorations

As the situation with shipping gets more difficult with the ongoing Industrial Action in Australia, the crisis in the Middle East and with the Chinese New Year holiday approaching, we’ve received several notices from carriers advising of rate restorations from North Asia to Australia in order for them to be able to maintain their schedules and services for their customers. Some of these increases are being applied from the 1st Jan with further increases set for the 15th Jan, as the demand for space and equipment peaks before this holiday period in early February.  

Cost Increases

Unfortunately we’ve been advised by carriers, terminals and airlines of many increases to their various fees, including document fees, terminal and port charges, terminal access charges and infrastructure fees, Some of these charges increased on the 1st of January 2024.

We’ll endeavour to absorb what costs we can, but some fees will have to be increased and these will be advised to you on future quotes and costings that you receive.