Australian & NZ Port Terminals Update March 2022

Sydney
Patrick: Vessel delays around 3 – 4 days.
DP World: Congestion delay is 2 to 3 days depending on the service. Average delay of 8-10
days for vessels that are already arriving off the berthing window.
Melbourne
Patrick: Vessel delays are around 1-8 days. These delays are a result of slow recovery from Covid related issues. Patrick Terminals is working closely with their Melbourne team to address these delays.
VICT: Current delay 1-4 days for vessels off window arrival
DP World: 2-5 days average delay for vessels that are already delayed and arriving off the berthing window.
Brisbane
Vessel delays, port omissions and vessel rotations are expected to be implemented by carriers given the current Brisbane River flood situation. Port of Brisbane authorities are
monitoring the port conditions to ensure safe arrival and departure from the vessel berths at Fisherman Islands and any potential navigation hazards within Moreton Bay.
The Acting Regional Harbour Master has advised that river currents and levels are approaching normality. This is crucial in enabling hydrographic survey teams and debris
removal teams to assess navigational areas and respond accordingly.
Wednesday 09 March 2022, saw 24/7 operations restarted at Fisherman Islands, giving
greater flexibility to the RHM and VTS to schedule vessels. Vessel selection continues to be
governed by the previously mentioned criteria the RHM and VTS has outlined, with the main restriction still in place relating to vessels longer than 300m.
Vessel movements upstream from Pelican Banks have begun, although under strict criteria and scheduling requirements. It also should be noted that despite best endeavours, this scheduling may be subject to change should conditions change, or further debris be identified and need to be removed.
Patrick: Vessel delays are around 6 to 10 days. Vessel bunching with vessels of same service delayed from origin that are arriving off the berthing window.
DP World: Current delays of 6 to 10 days. Vessel bunching with vessels arriving off the berthing window due to delays in Asia.
Fremantle
Patrick: Terminal vessel delays of 1.5 to 5 days. Some vessel bunching starting to re occur.
DP World: Congestion delays is 1 to 2 days. Vessel bunching with vessels of same service delayed from origin and arriving off the berthing window.
New Zealand
The average delay in Auckland between “scheduled arrival” and “actual berthing time” is
about 11 to 82 days. Auckland terminal utilisation is currently 78%. The COVID-related absence rate is still about the same and is still having a moderate impact on operations. We expect lower throughput over coming weeks as the Omicron surge continues. Terminal
operations are continuing albeit at reduced capacity.
As Ports of Auckland’s operating capacity reduces so does the increase to vessel delays.
This will be an ongoing challenge for some weeks.
Container/Bulk berths are currently at 100% utilisation and will continue to remain at 100% for the next few weeks with receivals constraints for inbound vessels currently being hindered with ETA delays into AKL.
Captain Cook, Marsden, Bledisloe yards and the Car Handling Facility are at 100% however expected to be reduced to around 80% next week. Yard capacity is heavily reliant on Transport Operators moving large numbers of vehicles offsite to make way for the following PCC visits.
Congestion is still set to continue with large container and breakbulk volumes being presented @ R&D, and MC will remain under pressure at least for the next few weeks so we
encourage transport operators to continue to liaise with the shipping lines on receivals and operating hours.
POAL/MC Ops team request all efforts for key stakeholders to resource for the swift delivery of cargo within its permitted free time. Extensions for free time and any additional storage will not be considered.
Additional cleaning is being imposed after every shift change. This hampers the ability of the port to maximize vessels. Average port stay for vessels is being extended by around 2-3
hours. 96% of services from Australia to New Zealand are delayed and off window berthing schedules.
Lyttleton incurring average waiting time of 0.5 to 1 day. Tauranga continues to see terminal congestion and average delays of 1 day.
Direct services to New Zealand remain heavily overbooked where several carriers are not offering service to New Zealand. Freight rates which are already high are expected to
increase even further.
Equipment management remains the carriers key focus in New Zealand due possibly to an extended reefer season. Auckland empty container depots are open but with limited
capacity. Carriers continue vessel schedule adjustments to safeguard schedule reliability.