“Due to the fluidity of the situation unfolding on Canada’s west coast, it’s safe to say that plotting expectations for which vessels will realistically be given a berth over the course of the next week has become an increasingly difficult task.

Whether or not the ILWU will now return to the negotiating table, or renew its 72-hour strike notice (again) it seems fair to assume that Vancouver and Rupert ports will attempt to churn through as many vessels as possible in the next couple of days.”

“Details of the proposal were not made public, but sources said key stumbling blocks included remuneration and union jurisdiction over terminal maintenance work.

“Things have once again been thrown into turmoil just while teams on the ground are beginning to get their bearings on how the next few weeks will unfold,” eeSea analyst Destine Ozuygur told The Loadstar.”

“The port strike that paralysed most cargo moves through Canadian west coast ports since 1 July moved closer to its end yesterday.

Both the ILWU and British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) endorsed the compromise suggested by a federal mediator, opening the way to ratification by their respective members.

According to an operations update by the port of Vancouver, some operations were already set to resume yesterday afternoon, hours after the two sides signalled acceptance of the proposed four-year labour agreement.

However, it will take some time to work through the backlog, according to eeSea.”

“It seems that the 11th day of the strike has brought renewed confidence from the carriers in confirming schedule delays into long weeks, as well as two blanks; but there was still only one service-wide adjustment to speak of.

Yesterday, MSC announced that the Chinook service would temporarily be reverting to a Seattle-Portland-Vancouver rotation; confirming port swaps in advance for all Chinook vessels currently in the lineup.”

“The Canadian west coast ports strike is creating a trade situation we have not seen since COVID.

The ITS Logistics Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index shows nothing but a sea of red, and the fuel heating up this dumpster fire is the reconsignment of containers once bound for Canada, which will now be unloaded in the United States.

Destine Ozuygur, head of operations at maritime data and vessel tracking company eeSea, said the company has identified two additional vessels that are officially diverting from Vancouver. This brings the diversion count up to five.”

“Destine Ozuygur, head of operations at maritime data and vessel tracking company eeSea, told CNBC two vessels, the MSC Sara Elena and the Ever Safety, have officially left Canadian ports and will not return.

“This has been confirmed by the ocean carrier,” said Ozuygur.

The company is also tracking two additional ships that previously listed Vancouver as their destination on the schedule, but no longer do.”

“Twenty-eight consecutive work shifts lost and ten days of ILWU Canada’s strike action has potentially disrupted $7.5 billion of cargo – automotive parts, refrigerated food, fertilizer, critical minerals, commodities and goods that are not reaching Canadians, or our trading partners abroad.

The economic repercussions of this labour action have only been escalating. Every day, $800 million in critical cargo, comprising 25% of Canada’s total traded goods have been compromised by ILWU Canada’s strike action. Cargo is already being diverted, with eeSea data showing two confirmed omissions of Canadian ports by vessels that will only call at the US West Coast.”

“ILWU President Willie Adams said in a statement that the union will “not be unloading Canadian bound cargo in solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters in ILWU Canada.” But the fact is that the diverted ships, with billions of dollars in cargo, would not go to US ports if they did not have a reasonable expectation of it being unloaded.

In an interview with CNBC, Destine Ozuygur, head of operations at maritime data and vessel tracking company eeSea, confirmed that both of the ships would not be returning to Canadian ports. “This has been confirmed by the ocean carrier,” said Ozuygur.”

“According to this morning’s eeSea data, four container vessels bound for Vancouver have changed their proforma port rotations to call at Seattle first, before returning to Vancouver later: the OOCL San Francisco; CMA CGM Medea; Yantian and Hyundai Faith.”

“The BCMEA yesterday suggested binding arbitration was the best way to end the strike. The employers said that if the union agreed to binding arbitration “port operations could resume quickly, critical goods could begin to flow again and there would be immediate stability and restoration to Canada’s supply chain operations.”

Danish analysts at eeSea have started to notice vessel bunching off the west coast with more boxships waiting outside Vancouver and Prince Rupert.”

“The deteriorative effects of the latest ILWU strikes on the transpacific tradelane are clearly visible, as the eeSea team tracks the live progression of vessel delays and omissions across the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.”

“Pressure has been building at the canal throughout June with queues emerging on both sides of the waterway.
Neopanamax boxships have had to be waiting for around 10 days to transit the canal. Data from eeSea below shows all the containerships heading towards the Panama Canal.”

“Biden can invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force a resumption of normal port operations. The last president to do that was George W. Bush, who invoked that federal law in 2002 after port employers locked out union longshore workers.
The latest data from Danish box watchers eeSea shows comparatively minimal disruption.

“So far we have not seen any major deviations away from US ports – only one omission of Oakland. We see delays throughout the WC, but not more than what has become the norm over the past three years. And finally, congestion seems manageable still: Seattle and Tacoma are the only ports registering above 50% on our congestion meter,” an update from eeSea noted.”

“Ocean carriers will have to consider downsizing vessels deployed on the Asia-US east coast Panama Canal loops, but voyages with smaller tonnage could lose money unless the lines are able to raise rates substantially.

Their other option could be to route more Asia-USEC strings via the Suez Canal, which would also cost more, due to the longer transit. According to eesea data, a pro-forma round-trip for a Panama loop takes 77 days, compared with the 84-day average for a Suez Canal routing.”

“More containers are on the waters of the Pacific heading for the west coast of North America than at any time this year, just as labour strife makes their smooth arrival uncertain.

Outbound transpacific cargo movements spiked to their highest level in six months in May, according to the Japan Maritime Centre, marking the first time since October 2022 that monthly outbound volumes on the route have exceeded 1.5m teu. All boxships heading across the Pacific due to arrive in the coming 18 days are tracked by Denmark’s eeSea below.”

Ahead of the termination of the 2M vessel-sharing alliance, the six Asia-North Europe and two Asia-Mediterranean services mostly feature all Maersk-controlled tonnage or ships operated by MSC.
For example, according to eeSea data, the Maersk AE11 and MSC Jade Asia-Mediterranean loop has 13 active vessels assigned, all supplied by MSC. Conversely, the Maersk AE10 and MSC Silk Asia-North Europe loop is operated by 13 ships provided by the Danish carrier.

“Last week’s announcement by the 2M Alliance partners that they intend to inject nine additional vessels into their Asia-North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean loops will see the network absorb the 24,000 teu newbuild ULCVs coming to MSC over the summer.”

Das Aus hatte sich abgezeichnet. Als die Vorstandsvorsitzenden von MSC, Sören Toft, und Maersk, Vincent Clerc, vergangene Woche für Anfang Januar 2025 das Ende der gemeinsamen Schifffahrtsallianz 2M ankündigten, kam die Nachricht für die wenigsten Branchenteilnehmer und Marktbeobachter überraschend.

China’s vast infrastructure linking factories and ports has grappled for three years with a strict zero-Covid regime that required frequent quarantines for personnel and “closed-loop” operations. The policy led to delays and cancellations, but exports largely boomed over that period as demand for goods soared.

Simon Sundboell, founder and chief executive of data provider eeSea, said the nature of the disruption had now changed, from a scenario driven by delays within a “hot market” to one of weaker demand.