As our partner Maxx Intermodal Systems informs, currently there is a wagon shortage in Riga. The recent railway accident is not the only reason that causes destabilization of the platform situation in Riga. As we know, the volume shipped via Riga during the last decade was extremely high compounded by the fact that Kazakh and Uzbek railways are not returning Latvian platforms preferring to route them instead to other countries. As a result, the ability to move the backlog and dispatching of freight is slow.
Please be advised about possible delays as well storage charges that might be applied by the port if the material is not able to be provided a rail platform before free time expires in port.
As our partner informs, in order to avoid in future any problems with improper use of the platforms by other countries, Latvia is discussing an option to privatize all their platforms. However, this might lead to the increase of the railway tariff.
The situation started improving and we will keep you informed.
According to our partner Maxx Intermodal Systems , the railway accident that happened on the 8th of January has paralyzed all inner and outer movement through Latvian ports.
LETA reports that around 360 tons of oil products and solvent were spilled on the Kraslava-Daugavpils railroad section during the freight train accident in Naujene County, Daugavpils Region (eastern Latvia). A protective dam has been erected to contain the spill, limiting the area to around 4,000 square meters. The freight train ran off the tracks in Naujene County, and as a result, 16 tank cars overturned and three of them ruptured. The train was en route from Belarus to Ventspils. No one was injured.
Please be advised that over 150 block trains are waiting in line and cannot reach Riga.
As our partner TCR reports, the delays at the crossing of Alashankou and Dostyk continue due to the large volumes of containers coming in from Qingdao and Lianyungang. There are currently 4,600 TEU in Qingdao and 10,546 TEU in Lianyungang. Reloading between Alashankou and Dostyk is still 200 wagons per day and barging from Huangdao to Qingdao is still very slow, because slow dispatching from Qingdao does not allow the station to free up space to accept barges with more containers from Huangdao.
Qingdao Railway Bureau is planning to resume with dispatches of 2 block trains every 3 days. In case this will go through and China Railways will not issue more restriction orders and we may see some movement from Qingdao in the coming days and weeks.
We expect container to be shipped out as following:
Arrival to Huangdao before September 2011 => dispatch by rail before December 31st, 2011
Arrival to Huangdao in October, 2011 – November, 2011 => dispatch by rail in January, 2012
Arrival to Huangdao after December 1st, 2011 => dispatch by rail after February 1st, 2012
We shall keep you informed in case of new developments!
Due to upcoming holidays in Finland, we would like to inform about the operation hours in Finish ports.
Independence day:
6th of December is the Independence day – offices in Finland are closed that day.
In Kotka and Hamina the two-shifts will end working on Monday, December 5th 2011 at 2.30 p.m. and they will not work on Independence Day December 6th. The five-shift in Kotka will work as normal.
The cargo control point in Kotka/Hamina is open on Monday, December 5th from 7.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and it is closed on December 6th.
Christmas:
In Kotka and Hamina both shifts will end working on Friday, 23rd of December at 10.00 p.m. and they will start working again after Christmas on December 27th at 6.00 a.m.
The cargo control point, Kotka/Hamina will be open on 23rd of December from 7.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and next time on Tuesday December 27th as normal.
At Vuosaari terminal the working time is on 23rd of December from 6.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.
The Service Point in Gatehouse is open on December 23rd from 7.00 a.m. to 10.30 p.m.
Steveco´s Vuosaari terminal will be closed during Christmas 24th -26th of December 2011 and the working will start again on December 27th at 6.00 p.m.
All activity in port is closed during 23.12 starting from 22.00 ending Tuesday 27.12 at 06.00, during this time no container lifts possible.
Customs work is from 8.00 a.m to 4.00 p.m.
New Year:
On Saturday, December 31st 2011 the two shifts in Kotka and Hamina will end working at 11.00 a.m. They start working again on Monday January 2nd 2012 at 6.00 a.m. The five-shift will be working in Kotka as normal during December 31st, 2011 – January 2nd 2012.
The cargo control point in Kotka/Hamina will be open on Friday 30th of December from 7.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. and next time on the 2nd of January 2012.
As our partner TCR reports, there are currently delays at the crossing of Alashankou and Dostyk due to the large volumes of containers coming in from Qingdao and Lianyungang. There are currently 4,700 TEU in Qingdao and 8,064 TEU in Lianyungang. Reloading between Alashankou and Dostyk is still very slow with daily capacity of just about 200 wagons and the loading process to reaches up to 15 hours per train.
We expect railcars to be shipped out as following:
Arrival to Huangdao in August 2011 => dispatch by rail in November, 2011
Arrival to Huangdao in September 2011 => dispatch by rail in December 2011 – 10th January, 2012
Arrival to Huangdao in October 2011 => dispatch by rail after 10th January, 2012
In order to ease the congestion, it has been proposed that the entire railway be on one information system which will allow the railway and customs to have the ability to have smoother communication but up to this point, it has not been created.
We shall keep you duly informed of new developments!
The Port of Barcelona is currently occupied by independent truckers who went on strike to demand guaranteed rates for their services without which they feel they are not able to compete with the large trucking companies who are more capable in dealing with diesel fuel price fluctuation. The Catalan government has not proposed any resolution and is planning to reach an agreement shortly. That being said, some negotiations were made with non-striking unions to relieve taxes and trucking processes to soften the blow of rising fuel prices. The port did not stop its operations and there are no pending shipments were delayed by the strike.
The Port of Oakland was shut by protestors in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Wednesday. Several thousand protesters gathered together outside the nation’s fifth-biggest harbor. Occupation of the Port lasted for five hours by blocking exits and streets with illegally parked vehicles which caused all evening operations to be shut down. The protesters were expressing dissatisfaction over closure of homeless aid program by blocking the street and were tossing dumpsters, trash bins and sparking bonfires at least as high as 15 feet in the air. Dozens of protesters were eventually arrested.
The port’s main exports are mainly to Asia and range from wine, fruits and nuts and handles imports such as manufacturing equipment, cars and parts from Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai. Financial losses from the closure are not available yet but will certainly harm all companies involved. The impact of the protest will be a significant loss in revenue for all logistic businesses in both private and commercial sectors.
As advised by Hapag-Lloyd regarding the current strike situation in Greece:
The Federation of Customs Officials has published an announcement declaring that they will start their mobilization on the 14th October 2011. It is expected that Customs Offices will not be operative from 14/10/2011 – 0700 hours to 24/10/2011 - 0700 hours.
