Dear customers, dear partners at home and abroad:
As already announced in our last newsletter, due to the continuing risk situation in the Red Sea, almost all container shipping lines are now redirecting their ships to the alternative route around the southern tip of Africa.
This essentially entails the following consequences for your shipments to and from Asia:
- Depending on the port rotation and speed of the ocean-going vessel, the detour adds around 14 to 21 days to the transit time;
- These delays are already causing significant shifts in the shipping companies’ schedules;
- The delays and schedule disruptions have already led to a capacity shortage on the westbound route from Asia to Europe since the beginning of the year, which will become even more acute in the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year (from 10 February 24). For imports from Asia, we currently have to factor in a pre-booking time of two to three weeks, and the trend is rising;
- In addition to the surcharges already introduced by the shipping lines to compensate for the longer route, westbound rates are rising rapidly due to the current ship utilization rate, and are now many times higher than the prices quoted at the beginning of December.
We are in constant dialog with all parties involved in the transport process and will of course keep you constantly informed about the status of your sea freight bookings and the progress of your shipments.
Due to the capacity and rate dynamics described above, we would like to ask you to contact us directly about your upcoming sea freight imports in the coming weeks. This way, we can offer you targeted solutions.
In this context, we would like to draw your attention once again to our Rail Service as an alternative to sea freight. Our team is available for bookings at relatively short notice. The transit time from / to China is currently approx. 18 – 21 days from terminal to terminal. We also regularly serve the routes to and from Vietnam, Korea, and Japan by rail, sometimes in combination with a short sea freight leg in Asia. Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Please contact us at any time with any questions you may have! In addition to your known local M&M contacts, our specialist departments are at your disposal as follows:
Sea Freight Hamburg
+49 40 236111 61
ham.oceanrequests@mumnet.com
Team Rail
+49 211 437 186 12
sales.rail-germany@mumnet.com
Best regards,
your M&M Sea Freight Team