We have previously reported on the serious impact of the new wave of epidemic on the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach:
About 150 longshore workers on the West Coast were tested, and about 100 of them tested positive, for a positivity rate of almost 67%, with about 80% of those positives in Southern California.
At the same time, Australia in the southern hemisphere is also suffering from the epidemic.
Nearly half of Australia’s truck drivers diagnosed/isolated
According to Reuters, due to the widespread spread of the Omicron variant, Australia reported 116,025 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a single day on the 8th, setting a new record for the country’s highest number of newly confirmed cases since the outbreak.
As of now, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia has exceeded 1.1 million.
The spread of the Omicron variant has exacerbated labor shortages in Australia’s container logistics, putting the country’s container shipping industry under tremendous pressure.
Australian media: Nearly half of truck drivers are diagnosed or quarantined
Last week, local media reported that supermarket shelves across Australia were empty as “nearly half” of truck drivers were absent due to positive tests or quarantine rules.
Australian supermarket chain Woolworths said some stores were out of stock due to delivery delays and supply chain difficulties. Another supermarket chain, Coles Group, has introduced purchase restrictions on poultry and meat products and said it “expects it to take several weeks to fully restore (supply).”
Industry insiders say the country’s testing regulations and the lack of test kits for transport workers are the source of supply chain disruptions.
According to Michael Kaine, national general secretary of the Transport Workers Union, drivers are delivering rapid tests for sale on supermarket and pharmacy shelves. But they, like most Australians, do not have access to these tests themselves.
Last Wednesday, the government scrapped seven-day rolling testing rules for truck drivers to ease capacity shortages.
However, Neil Chambers, head of the Container Transport Alliance of Australia (CTAA), revealed that because the regulations only apply to lorry drivers crossing state borders, “rather than the vast majority of goods transported within a city or state” “.
This has limited effect on alleviating the shortage of truck drivers.
He also said that the highly contagious Omicron virus “has changed the rules of the game for Australia’s container logistics chain”, putting it under “huge pressure, and the impact is everywhere!”.
Chambers explained: “Container shipping operators across Australia have reported to the CTAA that due to COVID-19 infections and quarantine requirements, they have reduced their available staff by almost 20%, including heavy vehicle drivers, warehouse staff, forklift drivers, container devanning staff and administrators. In extreme cases, the shortage of available labor can reach 50%.”
“Complementing this are staff shortages at customer sites, international container handling terminals and empty container yards across the country, significantly delaying the movement of containers through the supply chain.”
Maersk: Stop calling the Port of Brisbane for 17 days
Last week, port operator DP World said that due to the reduction of terminal staff due to the new coronavirus, berthing operations at the terminal have been delayed!
DP World added: “Approximately 10% of our workforce are currently affected, either as a result of being infected with COVID-19 or in isolation due to a positive case at home. Given the ongoing nature of this wave of the epidemic, we expect that 50% of our dockworkers will be affected. The number can be further increased!”
In view of this, Maersk recently issued an emergency notice that due to the heavy port congestion, its Australian route Dragon service, which shares cabins with the Venus ship GSL, will suspend calls at the Port of Brisbane from 8 Jan to 25 Jan 2022. The time of affiliation will be more than half a month (17 days)!
The following shipping schedules will stop calling at the Port of Brisbane within 17 days:
Not only the Port of Brisbane, Neil Chambers, head of the Container Transport Alliance of Australia (CTAA), said: All Australian ports are currently facing “significant problems” with container ship berthing delays, with the longest delays in Sydney and Melbourne. Already arrived 9 days ago!
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