Current loading restrictions in Europe due to COVID-19

IMO 2020 and its impact on sea freight transportation

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is taking initiatives to promote sustainability and reduce harmful sulphur gases emissions. While the new regulation to reduced maximum sulphur content (currently 3.5%) to 0.5% will be fully enforced on January 1, 2020, it is expected that the adjustment on bunker surcharge will come into effect already at the last quarter of 2019.

• Impact on shippers

With the new regulations to be fully enforced on January 1, 2020, carriers are getting prepared during the course of the year with some options available:

• Switch to low-sulphur fuel
• Use Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems which commonly known as a “scrubber” to clean up the sulphur oxide emitted from the vessel’s engine.
• Change the fleet to Liquefied Natural Gas Ships that are powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). LNG is considered as a cleaner fuel with less emission of greenhouse gases including sulphur oxide.

To ensure a smooth transition, carriers have to implement the above changes before January 1, 2020. Due to the investment in clean energy and cleaning systems, there will be an adjustment to the bunker surcharge formula which is expected to be effective from the last quarter of 2019.

• What is IMO 2020?

IMO is proactively taking steps to reduce marine pollution and minimize the vessels’ impact on global warming. Currently, most of the cargo ships use heavy fuel oil which is derived from crude oil and contains sulphur oxide. The gases can cause acid rain and trigger respiratory diseases. Therefore, the tolerant of sulphur oxide emissions has been tightened progressively throughout the past decade.

Also known as “IMO 2020 fuel sulphur regulation”, IMO 2020 is an initiative from the IMO which aims to reduce sulphur oxide emissions from ships.

By the deadline of January 1, 2020, all carriers will have to comply with the new regulation, which imposes a 0.5% global sulphur cap on fuel content and replaces the current limit of 3.5%.

If you have any questions regarding this topic, please feel free to reach out to your local DACHSER representative.

Coronavirus: updates on DACHSER’s operations in China

The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia recently spread rapidly in China and many cities and provinces have confirmed cases. In order to keep the epidemic under control, the Central Government has announced the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2. Local authorities, however, have requested enterprises in that region to not have their employees return to the office until a specific later date, mostly on February 10.

DACHSER Branches

Most of the DACHSER branches will officially re-open on February 10. Starting from Monday next week, February 3, depending on cities and permissions from local authorities, skeleton staff will be arranged to enter the office building to manage critical shipments and minimize impact like detention, demurrage fee, TLX release and etc. We regret that we could not provide full operations but will try out best to maintain basic services.

The date for re-opening is changing on a daily basis and is subject to change depending on the situation. As of today, January 31, 2020, the re-opening date of each branch is as follows:

• Beijing: Feb-03
• Chengdu: Feb-03
• Dalian: Feb-10
• Dongguan: Feb-10
• Guangzhou: Feb-10
• Nanjing: Feb-10
• Ningbo: Feb-10
• Qingdao: Feb-10
• Shanghai: Feb-10
• Shenzhen: Feb-10
• Suzhou: Feb-10
• Tianjin: Feb-03
• Wuhan: Feb-14
• Xiamen: Feb-10
• Zhongshan: Feb-10

Operations in Wuhan

DACHSER’s staff from Wuhan branch will work from home and part of the operations will be handled via our Shanghai team. Hubei Province Authorities announced that customers will need to apply transportation certificate from the local government and hand in the certificate to logistics company if they wish to have shipment to enter or exit the province by trucks.

General business in China

While we are trying our best to keep the operation as smooth as possible, please note that most of the factories in China are still closed; trucking services, flights and terminals are operating at minimum service level. Delays and other operational issues are to be expected.

We will continue to update you via our website with the latest information on how this is impacting your supply chain. Should you have any concerns and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative.

Operational disruptions at the port of Hamburg cause backlogs

With this update, DACHSER would like to inform you that port operations in Hamburg are currently affected in their flow due to various factors.

The current situation of congestion in the northern and western ports has become even more acute in Hamburg. The deployment of the explosive ordnance disposal service twice to defuse World War II bombs in construction areas, together with a demonstration by climate activists which led to the temporary closure of an important access road last week, are causing disruptions in handling operations.

Please note that this is causing significant delays at all operational interfaces in the port of Hamburg area and has created a backlog that will continue for some time.

For detailed information on possible impacts on your current shipments, please contact your local DACHSER representative.