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2016 Chinese New Year Update

 
Dear Valued Customer,
In the past a few weeks, Safmarine has endeavored to balance our network capacity to match the changing demand for the Chinese New Year holiday period. We understand that recently you may have experienced a number of cargo delays which have been less than satisfactory. We would like to update you on the situation and the actions taken.
At the end of 2015 and early in 2016, we discussed with many of our customers and noted that expectations were slightly below those of CNY 2015. This also matched our expectations at the time, although downfall levels were relatively high on some trades. We aimed to set our available network capacity to meet requirements as far as possible. This proved to be the case until 2 weeks before Chinese New Year when demand for cargo space increased significantly. At the same time, we experienced adverse weather conditions resulting in port closures and congestion, leading to some port omissions and long waiting time for vessels.
To reduce the impact, we added 4 extra loaders to the Mediterranean and Black Sea Region (MAERSK SEMAKAU, ZAMBIA, HAMMONIA PESCARA, and LISBON) in addition to rearrangement of delayed shipments to the fastest connection from origin or in transshipment ports.
We expect to get vessels in order beginning of week 9 and fulfill our commitments in the weeks to come.
Our next step is to take a review with our customers and internally to assess further improvement actions.
We highly appreciate your understanding and continued support to Safmarine. We will constantly strive to improve our service to the levels you have come to expect from us. Should you have any further inquiries, please feel free to contact your local Customer Service or Sales representatives. You will find contact details of our local office on www.safmarine.com
Yours sincerely,
Safmarine Container

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