Australian & New Zealand Port Terminals Update

Sydney
Patrick: Vessel delays around 6 – 7 days.
DP World: Average delay is 3 to 5 days for vessels that are already arriving off the berthing window.
Melbourne
Patrick: Vessel delays are around 0.5-2 days.
VICT: For week 20 commencing Monday 16th May there are nil delays expected at VICT.
Vessel schedule for this week has allowed for late arrivals from Sydney and Adelaide.
Brisbane port closure may have a minor impact to vessel scheduling next week.
DP World: 0.5 to1 day average delay for vessels that are already delayed and arriving off the
berthing window.
Brisbane
Vessel operations at Fishermans Island container terminals Brisbane were suspended late last week due to weather conditions. Vessel operations for the larger container vessels has resumed as of Monday 16 May 2022 PM as approval has been received from Maritime Safety QLD. Vessels delays, port omissions and port rotations are likely to be incurred as carriers look to maintain vessel service integrity. Brisbane stevedores have indicated that they will be deploying all available resources to recover the delays as quickly as possible this week.
Patrick: Vessel delays around 5 to 6 days.
DP World: Vessel delays 5 to 6 days.
Fremantle
Patrick: Terminal vessel delays of 0.5 to 2 days. Some vessel bunching starting to re occur.
DP World: Congestion delay is 1 to 3 days. Vessel bunching with vessels of same service delayed from origin and arriving off the berthing window.
New Zealand
The average vessel delay in Auckland is around 2 days. Auckland terminal utilisation as of 11 May 2022 is currently 87%. Terminal operations running well. Vessels scheduled arrivals have been affected by delays offshore. Due to those delays, expect that shipping arrivals and cargo flows will remain ‘lumpy’ with periods of congestion and times when there are no vessels to service, as we have experienced over the last week. POAL are monitoring long dwelling import containers as these negatively impact terminal capacity utilization and
operations, especially with the vessel bunching that is expected over the coming weeks.
Please ensure to move import units off port as quickly as possible. We have seen a (small) wave of COVID-related absences in the recent week affecting staff and stakeholders which is expected to continue throughout winter.
Masks are still required within the port terminal area in an effect to significantly reduce the
spread of the virus.
Container/Bulk berths are currently at 70% utilisation which is expected to increase to 90% later this week. Terminal utilisation will continue to remain high over the coming week.
Vessel delays into Auckland is likely to cause congestion over the next two weeks.
Captain Cook, Marsden, Bledisloe yards and the Car Handling Facility are at 70%. This is expected to be at 100% during the coming week due to 7 x scheduled inbound PCC vessels Congestion continues with large container and breakbulk volumes and MC will remain under pressure. POAL are encouraging 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 1-2 days. Tauranga continues to see terminal congestion and average delays of 3 to 5 days. Tauranga terminal utilisation is currently at 80
to 90%. 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.