CTAA announces empty shipping container congestion in Sydney

The Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) has announced that empty shipping container congestion has spiked again in Sydney in recent weeks.

The alliance said this has left importers and their transport providers incurring added costs from empty de-hire delays, yard storage of empties, futile trucks trips, and additional administration.

“The empty container chain in NSW is unfortunately broken,” said Neil Chambers, Director of CTAA.

“It takes only slightly higher import volumes, caused in large part by off-window vessel arrivals and bunching, and larger container exchanges from those vessels, coupled with delays due to weather events or other issues impacting on ECP capacity, and the system becomes chaotic and unsustainable,” he said.

The empty shipping container congestion and delays come off the back of a relatively positive month in June when over 80,000 TEU\ (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) of empties were evacuated by shipping lines through Port Botany, with a Load/Discharge Ratio of 1.07.

Related: Omicron puts severe strain on Australia’s logistics container chain

CTAA said since then, weather events in Sydney have led to unforeseen reductions in the movement of empty containers away from Port Botany, leaving the main Empty Container Parks (ECPs) at or near capacity.

The ECPs have not been able to accept additional empty equipment for their client shipping lines and are asking importers / transport operators to contact shipping lines for de-hire alternatives, which are not forthcoming.

“Trucks are literally driving from ECP to ECP looking for a de-hire location, only to be told by ECP operations staff that they aren’t accepting that equipment anymore due to capacity constraints, or that a redirection has been notified,” Chambers said.

“This is despite the transport operator having a valid Notification Window slot booking through the Containerchain truck-arrival notification system which aren’t being accepted in good faith,” he said.

Many transport operators have needed to implement additional fees with their customers to recoup the added costs of empty container handling, yard storage delays and futile truck trips.

Also transport operators have revisited their terms & conditions requiring their import customers to provide sufficient business-days’ notice of empty container availability for de-hire, and clauses regarding any acceptance of container detention liability in the current circumstances.

“Unfortunately, we are drifting from one crisis to the next in NSW in the management of empty containers through Port Botany,” he said.

“Additional ECP capacity is on the horizon … some in the short term, others in a longer timeframe. These initiatives are very much welcomed.”

Source. CTAA