Port Congestion

Outlining the growing disruption

Martin Carter | Head of Operations at Unsworth

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Queues are getting worse in China ports and other parts of the world, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Around a fifth of container vessels globally are waiting outside congested ports, according to a survey published by Windward, a global maritime data firm.

Vessel operators are having vessels slow-steam into congested ports, which means end-to-end transit times are much higher than pre-lockdown norms, and may mean the congestion impact is in fact, much worse than expected.

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The number of vessels waiting at the Port of Shanghai had increased to 384 in April, up 27% from previous month.

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Across China, at least 27 cities are under full or partial lockdown, which could be impacting up to 185 million residents across the country, according to the latest CNN calculation.

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China will continue with its zero-tolerance approach to Covid, with more rolling lockdowns expected.

Home to seven of the world's top ten container ports, including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. In Shanghai, the situation remains severe, despite a gradual reduction in local restrictions.

Pressure continues to build at other ports, as carriers try to find alternative ports to berth. Ships have faced growing delays since late March outside Ningbo.

The lockdowns, as well as the expected demand shift have also led to local trucking delays in China, with empty containers piling up at ports while factories wait for allocated transport.

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Three things Unsworth is doing to alleviate these issues:

• We are looking to move via ports in the region that are still open, and working and vessels are calling.

• For our LCL product, we are accepting cargo, when possible, for truckers to move from factories to our CFS station where possible we are looking to move via other ports in the same area.

• We can give clear visibility through our pathway platform of where the shipment is – if this has been rerouted or even if it is being held pending shipment due to a covid lockdown allowing the client to make alternative plans

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Contact us here

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Latest Pathway Release

Easier Searching, Quoting, and More

James Coombs | Head of Business Change & Innovation at Unsworth

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Over the last few weeks, we have released new features on our Pathway system.

Our main release was a new powerful data grid, allowing you to filter and pivot your view easily.

Group your shipments by status, origin, destination, or any other data point.

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Working with our network of partners globally, we've been able to provide visibility of the booking process at a much earlier stage than before. Now you can see when your cargo has been allocated a vessel, and intended shipment dates, instead of just tracking cargo on the water.

Finally, we've improved the searching and filtering of declarations, and continue to make document control simpler, as well as add compliance functionality by building monthly Excel downloads.

Would you like to know more? You can set up a call with me and my development team here.

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Customs Declaration System

New updates this September  

Glen Saunderson | Head of Customs Solutions

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HMRC is upgrading its Custom Declaration platform for the first time in over 20 years, replacing the existing Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) System with the Customs Declaration System (CDS)

The last date for Import Declarations through CHIEF will be September 30th, 2022, with the last date for Export Declarations being 31st March 2023.

The upgrade brings Customs Declarations in line with the recent focus made towards HMRC’s Government Gateway portal hub.

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Importers, Exporters, and Agents alike all require registration through their respective Government Gateways to be able to continue with their trade declarations through CDS.

Here at Unsworth, we are already well underway with making preparations to migrate to using the CDS system, and more information on this subject will be hitting your inboxes in the coming weeks

We are of course here to help if you have any questions on the subject in the meantime.

Read the full release here.

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Upcoming Events

Jennifer FitzHugh | Marketing Manager

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Dublin Port  | New UK Import Border Controls | Tuesday 7th June at 2:00 pm

On this live Port of Dublin event. you'll hear from and have the opportunity to ask your questions to Customs experts, Local Dublin Authorities, and DAERA officials in this facilitated round-table discussion on the UK to Ireland Trade.  

- Avoid all the extra costs and delays

- Learn about the import /export process

- Learn from others and focus on compliance.

This event will focus on Irish-UK Traders who want to better understand the process of UK import and export into Ireland to reduce costs and save time.

Register here

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MULTIMODAL EXPO NEC | Dover Calais Short Straights

Wednesday 15th June at 10:30-11:30 am

Understand how to reduce the cost and utilise the full benefits of using Northern France as a Gateway to the EU.

Hear from the 3 main points of entry to the EU27 as to how to speed up the process / reduce costs.

The discussion will be chaired by Charles Hogg, Commercial Director, Unsworth.

Book a meeting

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Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend

Customer Update  

Darren Jones, Director of Customer Experience | Customer Update

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We hope everyone enjoys the 4-day bank holiday weekend from the 2nd to the 5th of June to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

However, this means that over the long bank holiday weekend, the UK will be shut/operating on a reduced service over those 4 days.

Unsworth always values its commitment to our customers so will have a Custom Solutions skeleton team in place from Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th: 8:00 till 17:00 if required.

Customers will be able to follow their usual channels for communication and updates, all other verticals will be on holiday.

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The Unsworth Team

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