G6 Drops Los Angeles Calls amid Worsening Congestion

 G6 Lines agreed to temporarily suspend the eastbound Los Angeles call on its Pacific Atlantic 1 service, German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd said in a customer advisory.

The decision comes amid worsening congestion on the US West Coast ports.

The first vessel not calling at Los Angeles will be MV Singapore Express 047E eta USLAX January 1, 2015, Hapag-Lloyd said.

The suspension is agreed for 4 consecutive weeks, ending with MV NYK Daedalus 041E. The German carrier said that a review of the congestion situation will be done in due time.

“We apologize for this action which is inevitable to avoid further delays in congested ports,” the advisory read.

The port of Los Angeles has been struggling with congestion for several months which resulted in delays for cargo owners.

The congestion-hit port said that its overall volumes increased 4.6 percent in October 2014 when compared to last year’s figures. Total cargo for October  was 715,682 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).

Congestion at Southern California ports has led shippers to reroute cargo through Oakland, adding hundreds of additional import containers weekly to Oakland volumes.

Terminal operators at Seattle and Tacoma reported 40-60% productivity reductions in loading and discharge of vessels that threaten to disrupt schedules and delay receipt and delivery of cargo to a regional economy highly dependent on waterborne international trade.

Terminal congestion has been a mounting issue at Southern California port terminals due to a variety of factors, including talks bteween ILWU and PMA on a new contract, a surge in cargo volume, shortage of chassis and rail cars, along with insufficient numbers of truck drivers.

World Maritime News Staff