Asia Westbound - Ocean freight advisory

As per previous advisories and as widely reported in the news, space is still extremely limited, and the ongoing UK port congestion is not expected to ease for several weeks to come. Containers that were diverted away from Felixstowe are now stranded at many ports in Europe with very little information available from carriers as to when they are likely to arrive in the UK. All of this is adding to further disruption to the supply chain.

To compound matters further, several carriers have announced further blank sailings, and in the last 24 hours, suspension of services from Asia to Northern Europe. While dependant on the carrier, this will affect the movement of containers throughout Asia and Southern China regions, with carriers not considering taking bookings for the UK/Ireland and Europe until well into January 2021. 

In addition to this, feeder services moving containers from Southern China into Yantian for connection with Mother Vessel will also be suspended from January right through to the end of February, depending on the carrier. Movement of containers from the below areas are particularly affected:

• Guangxi and “Pearl River Delta” area including but not limited to Dongguan
• Guangzhou, Huangpu, Huizhou
• Foshan, Jiangmen, Sanshui, Shantou
• Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Zhanjiang and Hainan and Fujian Ports including but not limited to Xiamen, Fuzhou, Fuqing
• Quanzhou

All of this is adding further pressure to the small number of carriers that continue to offer services into Europe, UK and Ireland. This will likely result in a further increase in costs.

Please be reminded to accept the shipment dates/times being made available where possible and to make decisions quickly. What we can obtain today is often gone within 24 hours and in some cases even quicker than that.

We will continue to keep you advised on further developments. At a time when business is hitting its peak in the run up to CNY coupled with the decisions now being made by carriers, the service solutions on this trade lane are being impacted significantly.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact your local Woodland office or Account Manager.