CARGO no-shows and phantom bookings continue to be a major headache for ocean carriers, particularly, during the peak season.
Cargo booked from Asia to Europe was being rolled over at the beginning of July due to a combination of unusual circumstances, some ships still sailed light due to last minute cancellations, according to Drewry Maritime Research.
Phantom bookings add to the problem and are the work of forwarders that predict a strong market, and try to reserve more than enough space for it in the hope of capturing new customers that may be caught short.
The point underlines a continuing inefficiency of deep-sea supply chains which, if resolved, would help counteract the negative side of slow steaming, said Drewry.
For cargo to be delivered at destination on time, it has to be shipped on time. The problem is not new, but ocean carriers' attempts to minimise the damage by imposing heavy penalties still appear ineffectual, said the report.
Bookings failing to arrive on time can be due to a number of causes including delays with intermodal transport, regulatory problems, unexpected production difficulties, container equipment shortages, and feeder vessel schedule failures. This makes the strict enforcement of late cancellations fees difficult, particularly, as sorting out fact from fiction can be laborious.
A remarkable 29 per cent of cargo booked in the first quarter failed to be shipped on time, although this includes delays caused by deep-sea vessels not arriving for loading. According to Maersk, it received 2,700 ghost bookings in all tradelanes in the first 22 weeks of this year, totalling 12,000 FEU, but this was at least 50 per cent less than five years earlier. However, instead of being mainly an Asian problem, it is becoming more global.
Drewry said carriers are struggling to collect booking cancellation penalties from shippers due to too much focus on freight rate levels instead of value-added services.
WORLD SHIPPING
15 August 2013 - 20:59
Phantom bookings still haunt carriers despite imposing heavy penalties
CARGO no-shows and phantom bookings continue to be a major headache for ocean carriers, particularly, during the peak season.
WORLD SHIPPING
15 August 2013 - 20:59
Phantom bookings still haunt carriers despite imposing heavy penalties
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