The 2M Alliance temporarily does not call at Hamburg due to port congestion

Container ship Maersk Line (Photo: Maersk Line)

Congestion at Northern Europe container hubs is continuing to affect shipping alliances' service networks and further disrupt already long supply chains.

2M alliance partners Maersk and MSC, informed customers yesterday that their AE7/Condor Loop 4 service will not call at Hamburg for the next four weeks and cargo will unload at the port of Bremerhaven.

The Danish carrier said it made the decision due to the high density of the container yard and the long waiting times for our vessels at the port of Hamburg.

And shipping line MSC mentioned "a serious congestion problem" at Hamburg's Eurogate port, "affecting schedule reliability and causing delays for shipments".

Both carriers confirmed that discharge at the port of Bremerhaven would be considered "end of carriage", according to their respective bills of lading. According to eeSea data, 2M's Loop 4 service group deploys 10 vessels with an average capacity of 17,916 TEUs.

This means there will be additional shipping costs for shippers who are expecting to pick up their containers at the port of Hamburg, but MSC says it is "not responsible" for any additional costs resulting from the delivery divert to another port.

A shipper told The Loadstar that "In the past, carriers did not dare to unload at Bremerhaven for shipments booked to the port of Hamburg without any offer of compensation, but now they can take away almost anything,” he said and shippers have little or no voice.

It is also understood that climate activists Extinction Rebellion have disrupted roads over the past week, adding to the problem of congestion at Hamburg's container terminals.

The Port of Hamburg reported a 1.8% year-on-year increase in container throughput through its terminals in the first quarter, to 2.2 million TEUs, including a 16% recovery in traffic to the port. China's largest trading partner, up 672,000 TEU.

And the port predicts a positive outlook for the rest of 2021.

The port of Hamburg said that with the resumption of suspended shipping lines and some new services, and in a situation they expect to improve worldwide, expect a throughput of 130 million tons and 8.7 million TEUs.

Elsewhere in Northern Europe, container ports are bracing for a second wave of peak demand from the full number of vessels operating alongside ships being added to ramp up, with virtually unrelated vessel schedules much concerned with what is advertised.

Source: Phaata.com (According to The Loadstar)

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