We are very grateful that OOCL issues these newsletters as they give an excellent overview:

 

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Dear valued OOCL Customer,

 

US west coast cargo operations cleanup efforts resulting from the backlog caused by the past 4 months of labor slowdowns and extreme terminal congestion continue.  Estimates are that the cleanup efforts will be ongoing for the next 2-3 months.  We will continue to keep you informed of the progress.

North America Rail Operations

 

  • BNSF network train and car velocities were relatively unchanged from the prior week despite wintry weather, particularly across parts of the South, which caused some minor delays. As a warming trend across much of the U.S. takes hold, the changing weather pattern will usher in mostly dry conditions across the network with no major storms expected. Below zero temperatures will be absent from the North and Central Regions for the first time in several weeks.

 

  • Norfolk Southern Railroad’s (NSRR) efforts in working with the Port of Virginia to re-open the gates to Norfolk International Terminals in an operationally prudent manner have been successful to date.  The NSRR remains committed to resuming normal gate hours for NIT traffic as quickly as possible.

    Please note the following Norfolk Southern Rail (NSRR) updated gate hours for loaded Norfolk International Terminal (NIT) destined traffic:

  • Gates at the Chicago Landers terminal will remain open through 06:00 Thursday March 12.
  • Gates at all other NSRR terminals will remain open through 06:00 Thursday March 12, during normal gate hours.
  • NSRR plan to announce additional gate status information Wednesday, March 11th.

 

Truck Power

 

  • Truck Power across the USA to perform import store door deliveries and export door pickups continues to be a major concern especially in the Midwest, Gulf, Northeast and Southern California.
  • There is a shortage of trucking companies willing to dray hazardous containers.
  • There are no truck power issues in Canada and Mexico.
  • Please see our Truck Power Map on OOCL.com for more information regarding advance timing required for door movements.

 

 

Vessel/Loop Deployment Changes

 

Terminal First Receiving Date information site link for export cargo container receiving as reported by North America terminals continues to be updated daily on OOCL.com USA and Canada web sites.

Pacific Coast Port Call Changes:  To assist with vessel service recovery resulting from U.S. West Coast port congestion the following service changes will take place:

NP1 service will temporarily shift the Tacoma port call to Seattle.  Cargo scheduled to load/discharge Tacoma will now route via Seattle per below.

OOCL London     030     ETA 09 March
Zim Rotterdam   026     ETA 15 March
Zim Djibouti            040     ETA 06 April
OOCL Atlanta    074     ETA 12 April
Zim Antwerp     026     ETA 19 April
OOCL Asia               074     ETA 26 April
Zim Rotterdam   027     ETA 03 May
Frankfurt Express       031     ETA 10 May
Seattle Express 036     ETA 17 May

In addition, due to severe vessel delays on the west coast there will be no sailings in Vancouver for the NP1 service during the 2nd through 4th weeks of March.

NP2 Service will temporarily switch its Seattle port call to Tacoma.  Cargo scheduled to load/discharge Seattle will now route via Tacoma until mid-May.  Impacted vessel/voyages are as follows:

Hyundai Faith   044     ETA 11 March
Seattle Express 035     ETA 17 March
Hyundai Force   040     ETA 23 March
Hyundai Global  036     ETA 31 March
Hyundai Courage 042     ETA 07 April
Hyundai Brave   043     ETA 14 April
Hyundai Mercury 040     ETA 21 April
Hyundai Faith   045     ETA 28 April
Hyundai Force   041     ETA 05 May

PA1 services will temporarily shift the Tacoma port call to Seattle.  Cargo scheduled to load/discharge Tacoma will now route via Seattle per below.  PA1 service will resume Tacoma port calls approximately Mid-May, 2015.

Dallas Express  076     ETA 19 March
Oakland Express 060     ETA 28 March
NYK Constellation       042     ETA 02 April
NYK Demeter     040     ETA 09 April
Kobe Express    080     ETA 17 April
Augusta Kontor  003     ETA 23 April
Halifax Express 067     ETA 30 April
NYK Meteor      040     ETA 07 May

PA1 – Temporary Los Angeles Port Omission  In order to help ease the current congestion at the Port of Los Angeles, the G6 Alliance has taken the step of implementing a temporary omission of an eastbound port call at Los Angeles for the PA1 service until further notice. The service will continue to call Port of Oakland.

During this temporary period of PA1 port call omission at the Port of Los Angeles, you are encouraged to use our alternative CC1, CC3, CC4 and JPX services for your Transpacific shipments. For Transatlantic shipments, there is no all water alternative during this time period.  For alternate land bridge routing for your Transatlantic shipments during this period, please contact your Sales Representative. Service maps and schedules for all our services are available at www.oocl.com.

JPX Temporary Oakland Port Omission  JPX service will temporarily omit Oakland call through week 12.  Cargo normally booked ex Oakland on the JPX service can utilize the PA1 service as an alternative.

 

SE3 Temporary Oakland Port Omission  SE3 service will temporarily omit Oakland.  Vessels omitting the Port of Oakland are shown below:

 

Hanjin Xiamen   047 West
Hanjin Mumbai   036 West
SC1 Temporary Oakland Port Omission  SC1 service will temporarily omit Oakland call weeks 14-19.  Vessels omitting the Port of Oakland are shown below:

 

APL Salalah     015 West
APL Southampton 016 West

APL Dublin              013 West

APL Yangshan    014 West

APL Barcelon    014 West

 

NP3 Temporary Vancouver Port Omission NP1 service will temporarily omit Vancouver second call until further notice.

 

Attached is our current vessel schedule for reference purposes.  For the most up to date scheduling information please do refer to our interactive point to point or vessel schedule on www.oocl.com.

 

 

Pacific Southwest

  • Expect the recovery process to be elongated as the congestion bubble moves thru and out of the supply chain.
  • Empty receiving is improving.
  • Chassis are surplus at nearly all terminals.
  • At the beginning of this week there were 24 container vessels at anchorage in the LA/LGB basin.

 

 

Oakland

 

  • OICT was highly congested this past week.  There were hundreds of trucks in line every day backed up outside the terminal gates with gate turn times averaging over 1 hour.  Due to yard congestion, import delivery lanes had to be closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – Friday.  Empty returns were diverted to off-dock depot Monday – Thursday.
  • Oakland Trapac operations were moderately congested this week.  Due to yard congestion, import delivery lanes had to be closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Empty returns were diverted to off-dock depot Monday – Thursday.
  • At the beginning of this week there was one container vessel at anchorage in the San Francisco Bay.

 

Tacoma & Seattle

  • WUT was moderately congested this week; gate turn times averaged 20 minutes.  The terminal continues to post an announcement on their website which vessel(s) they will receive export cargo on the following day. The terminal’s decision to accept export cargo is based on daily yard inventory levels and dwell times.
  • Seattle T-18 was slightly congested; gate turn times averaged 25 minutes.  No empties were accepted Monday and Tuesday; empty returns were diverted to Conglobal Industries container depot in Seattle.
  • At the beginning of this week there were four container vessels at anchorage in the Puget Sound.

 

 

Vancouver

 

  • CN currently has enough cars on hand or enroute to DeltaPort and Centerm Terminals to cover the current demand although delays of 8 days or even more should be expected.

 

 

USA Midwest & South Central

  • The Houston Ship Channel has been closed since March 9 as a result of a chemical spill after the chemical tanker Maersk Carla collided with the supramax bulker Conti Peridot.  Due to the channel closure the Barbours Cut Terminal is closed as of 8am local time on Tuesday, March 10th until further notice.
  • Port of Houston was closed last week on Tuesday and Wednesday due to fog.
  • Slow imports from the west coast are beginning to cause some export equipment shortages in Chicago.

 

 

CN Montreal

 

  • CAST Terminal has aging intermodal loads of no more than five days and Termont Terminal has no imports dwelling.

 

CN Halifax

 

  • During the past couple of weeks, many ITM containers were dwelling at the port longer than normal due to the extreme weather conditions.

 

 

New York Terminals

 

  • Some of the NYC marine terminals will be closed on March 17th (Gleason’s Birthday).
  • Truck power lead time is now 3-4 days in the NYC metro area.

 

 

Norfolk International Terminal

 

  • Effective on March 2, 2015, loaded export containers arriving via truck at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) are no longer allowed to enter the facility until it is within 10 calendar days (ERD) of the vessel arrival.
  • On Saturday, March 7, and Saturday, March 14, Norfolk International Terminals will open from 0700-1700.  A decision is forthcoming regarding the weekend gates beyond March 14.

 

South Atlantic

  • Sleet and snow impacted parts of the South Atlantic region again this week shutting down Memphis, Nashville, Huntsville and Birmingham.

 Mexico

 

  • VER & ALT Terminals were both closed two days last week due to bad weather.
  • Depot, trucking, and rail services all normal.

 

Yours Sincerely,

OOCL North America

 

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