August 19, 2021 – The ports of Ningbo and Shanghai are slowly recovering from their shutdowns this past week due to a covid outbreak. However, reports indicate that vessels continue to be delayed and shipments are still congested in the area due to these problems.
August 12, 2021 – Operations at a terminal of the world’s largest port were suspended yesterday following a case of COVID-19 being detected in a worker. Ningbo-Zhoushan port started to turn ships away yesterday morning in the wake of the positive test. Initially, the ports authority claimed that its operating system was down early this morning before the Ningbo Municipal Health Commission came clean with the news. The infected worker was part of the workforce at Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal. There were already reports on Monday about the unprecedented volumes of tankers, bulk carriers and containerships backing up outside Ningbo-Zhoushan port.
August 6, 2021 – The federal government has reached a tentative agreement with the union that represents Canada’s border agents. The deal, announced today after more than 30 straight hours of mediated talks, comes after a daylong work-to-rule campaign that spawned long lineups at the country’s busiest border crossing points. It also comes just days before the Canada Border Services Agency is to begin easing COVID-19 travel restrictions on fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
August 6, 2021 – The Public Service Alliance of Canada says job action by 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency workers has begun after the 6 a.m. deadline for labour negotiations expired. The union says workers will now begin a “sweeping” series of actions at Canadian airports, land borders, commercial shipping ports, postal facilities and headquarters locations. The job action will continue until a deal is reached with the federal government.
August 5, 2021 – About 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency workers could begin job action as early as Friday August 6th. Although the immediate impact will be felt by travelers, cargo coming into or exiting Canada will also be impacted even though customs officers are considered essential workers. The impact will likely not be felt immediately but there will likely be delays in customs clearances, inspections, emanifest filings and all transactions at the land, port and airport crossings will be affected. We will continue to keep our customers and partners informed of any breaking news and we encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter which will provide the most updated information.
August 4, 2021 – Extreme weather in China is becoming the latest challenge to global supply chains, as a heavy typhoon season threatens to further delay goods stuck at some of the world’s busiest container ports. Yantian port in southern China’s export and industrial hub of Shenzhen stopped drop-off services of containers on Tuesday night due to a typhoon alert, the port said on its official social media account. Just two weeks earlier, Shanghai’s Yangshan mega-terminal facility and nearby ports evacuated ships as Typhoon In-Fa slammed into the coast, bringing widespread flooding and toppling containers stowed in the hold of a bulk carrier traveling to the U.S. There may be worse to come, as officials predict more typhoons will hit China this month.
July 29, 2021 – Following the announcement that was made yesterday, July 28, 2021, by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), on behalf of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU), the Border Services Officers (FB) bargaining unit has voted in favour of a strike. As early as the first week of August, CBSA Border Services Officers, represented by PSAC, will be in a legal strike position as a result of an impasse in negotiations between their union and the Government of Canada.
Ninety percent (90%) of Border Services Officers have been identified as essential, meaning that they will continue to offer essential services if there is a strike. We expect that our officers will fulfill their duties with the highest level of integrity and professionalism. CBSA operations will carry on as planned as the Agency continues to ensure the safety and security of Canadians while maintaining the flow of goods and services across the border. However, travelers and businesses could experience an increase in border wait times, picketing outside CBSA premises, and wearing of union-related accessories. The CBSA has been actively working to plan for these situations and has developed mitigation strategies to ensure operations will continue. The CBSA will respond quickly to any job action or work disruption in order to maintain the safety and security of our border, ensure compliance with our laws, and keep the border open to facilitate the flow of legitimate goods and travel.
The CBSA noted the core functions of Border Services Officers work at the waterfront terminals is deemed to be essential and they do not anticipate disruption to the movement of cargo in the event of a strike. The CBSA is working closely with its local managers to ensure picketing plans are in place to allow essential CBSA workers to report to work, which they are required to do.
We will continue to monitor the situation daily and share our findings and advice.
July 24, 2021 – Days after civil unrest and violence disrupted operations at South Africa’s busiest port, reports are that container operations at Durban have again been brought to halt by a suspected cyberattack against port operator Transnet. South African media reports said that nothing is currently moving in or out of the container terminals with trucks backlogged in the streets around the Port of Durban. “Transnet is currently experiencing a disruption in some of its IT applications, and the source of this problem is being identified,” the company said in a statement released to customers and posted on social media. “Port terminals are operational across the system, with the exception of container terminals, as the NAVIS system on the trucking side has been affected.”
July 20, 2021 – The Port of Vancouver issued the following update yesterday. Temperatures in the southeastern part of the province will continue to be hot and above seasonal numbers. Wildfire activity in the B.C. interior is expected to continue, with impacts to rail operations. Over the weekend (July 17), a fire at Tremont Creek shut down CN and CP traffic briefly, for an hour and half.
At the time of this update, reports indicate that both CN and CP lines are operational, with an increase in rail activity over the past few days. Operations may be subject to temporary stoppages due to spot fires. Both lines continue to operate under Ministerial Order (MO) 21-06 requirements, which include targeted speed restrictions, increased equipment inspections, and staging and deployment of additional fire prevention equipment. All anchorage class assignments are experiencing heightened demand, and availability in both port jurisdiction and the Southern Gulf Islands is very limited at the moment. All English Bay anchorages are full and Southern Gulf Islands have 10 anchorages remaining. The vessel arrival board continues to be busy and we have multiple vessels all over 260 m in length arriving over the next 3 days.
July 19, 2021 – Union Pacific is temporarily suspending eastbound service from West Coast port terminals to its Global IV intermodal facility in Chicago to help ease “significant congestion” at inland terminals, especially Chicago, and at the ports. The suspension is aimed at helping ocean carriers reduce backlogs. UP hopes this suspension, which will start on Sunday and last for about seven days, will not only help relieve port backlogs for Chicago-bound container traffic but also ultimately help address backlogs for containers destined to other markets. The suspension applies to UP-served terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, California, and Tacoma, Washington.