The reliability of NZ shipping is currently lower than the global average, which could lead to another export season of capacity pinch points, vessel queues and shipping delays, logistics company Kotahi is warning.
Chief executive David Ross says global shipping schedule disruption and delays continue to remove significant capacity from the market.
“With NZ’s shipping schedule reliability currently lower than the global average, we are going to see some ongoing level of capacity pinch points, vessel queues and delays moving around the NZ coast.”
Ross says Kotahi is working with partners to review demand and supply and, if necessary, will seek extra capacity and container supply.
It is working closely with its shipping partner Maersk on required levels of service, which has already resulted in change ahead of the peak export season.
“Recently an additional vessel has been added into the Southern Star service which, as a result, is already providing early signs of better schedule adherence,” he says.
Alliance Group sales manager Shane Kingston says the ongoing shipping disruption is increasing supply chain costs which he expects to continue.
“Although there are signs the disruption is beginning to ease in some markets, ports in North America continue to be severely impacted.
“We are working closely with our partners and customers to minimise the impact of the issues.”
Fonterra Global Supply Chain director Gordon Carlyle says the company is expecting another challenging season.
“We’re confident we have the systems in place and relationships to manage further supply chain disruptions.”
It works closely with Kotahi.
A newsletter published by Danish shipping giant Maersk quantifies the impact of port delays, noting a holdup of one to three days on a 12-port rotation can potentially turn a 10 week roundtrip into 11 or 12 weeks.
Shipping is currently disrupted by a covid outbreak in Vietnam and berthing delays at almost every large European port due to labour shortages and congestion.
Maersk says it has more vessels and containers deployed than prior to the pandemic, yet ships still encounter delays leading to missed sailings and missed capacity.
It describes the current logistics environment as “testing.”
