Shipping lines are weighing their options against a background of continuing delays at the Port of Durban.
Following yesterday’s announcement by MSC of a general rate increase (GRI) of $100 per container on all Far East and North India export cargo booked from Durban, Maersk Line managing director Jonathan Horn told FTW that the line was currently considering how best to handle the situation with the least possible impact on its stakeholders.
MSC referred to delays of five to seven days.
“The delays being experienced in Durban are significant,” Horn told FTW. “This has a big impact on us in terms of our ability to run a viable network and most importantly, provide a reliable service to our customers
“The additional costs incurred due to these delays are extraordinary and are because of actions that have to be taken – such as the speeding up of our vessels in order to recover schedule integrity at the subsequent ports. We cannot just continue to absorb additional costs of this nature indefinitely.”
DAL Agency managing director David McCallum told FTW he was unable to confirm the line’s plan of action at this stage – but would discuss with the trade desk in Hamburg and revert in due course.