General

Under the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the disadvantages of backward port infrastructure have been highlighted, and the global shipping industry is facing its biggest dilemma in 65 years. There are currently more than 350 freighters in the world that are jammed at ports, causing delays in delivery and rising prices of goods.

According to the British "Financial Times" report, there are currently 22 ships waiting for berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach on the west coast of the United States. The ships will have to wait at least 12 days before they can anchor and unload their cargo before shipping them to the United States. Factories, warehouses and shops.

According to real-time data from the Swiss-based logistics company Dexun Group, there are currently 353 freighters trapped outside ports worldwide, more than twice the number earlier this year. Shipping problems caused inventory shortages and delayed deliveries to drive up prices. While the ship stuck in line at sea, various types of inventory on the shore gradually became short, causing prices to rise. This situation was prominently reflected in the "online shopping flow" during the epidemic.

One of the biggest causes of global freight congestion is the border control of various countries during the epidemic and the forced shutdown of many factories, which jeopardizes the smoothness of the entire supply chain and causes the freight rates of major maritime transport routes to soar. In addition, the long-standing problem of insufficient supporting facilities for port infrastructure has also been exposed.

Before the epidemic broke out, ports were under pressure to upgrade their infrastructure, such as automated operations, decarbonized logistics, and construction of facilities that can cope with larger and larger ships.

Manners, Chief Executive Officer of Transportation Intelligence, said: "The port urgently needs investment. In the past year, the port infrastructure has been overwhelmed."

Toft, the CEO of MSC, the world's second largest container shipping group, said that the current problems in the industry did not emerge overnight.

In the past few decades, in order to reduce transportation costs with economies of scale, freighters have become larger and larger, and deeper docks and larger cranes have also been required. Taking a new crane as an example, it takes 18 months from order to installation. Therefore, it is difficult for the port to respond quickly to changes in demand.

Mooney, deputy director of IHS Markit's maritime and trading department, believes that some ports may have long been "below the standard" and cannot accommodate new giant ships. Emerging markets such as Bangladesh and the Philippines always had port congestion before the epidemic. Mooney said that improving infrastructure can only solve some of the problems, and the epidemic also highlights the need to strengthen coordination, exchange of information, and digitization of the overall supply chain.