Sydney Port Congestion and Empty Parks at Capacity

Attention: Shipping Manager

We have received notices from shipping lines and transport carriers in the past few days regarding the congestion at Sydney Port. It is happening because of a variety of reasons including bad weather, Industrial action at port terminals and empty container parks reaching their peak capacity. As a result of this congestion, various vessel ETA’s have been delayed and they are constantly changing. Shipping lines are also avoiding Sydney on their port rotations or are also adjusting their scheduled port rotations. Additionally, some shipping lines have outlined measures to introduce a congestion surcharge of USD300 per TEU to maintain their services at the required level. If these fees are implemented, then unfortunately, we will have no option but to pass on.

Moreover, Empty Container parks in Sydney are also at their maximum capacity due to slowing down of exports and delayed evacuation of empties. Over the last few weeks, we saw a constant rise in the Empty dehire fees charged by depots but the situation didn’t improve. Most of these depots are now facing severe capacity issues with some refusing to accept any dehires at all and some are only accepting specific types of containers. This is likely to cause further delays with empty container dehires in Sydney.

Dieterle & Victory will keep you updated as we hear further.