Weekly Logistics Briefing Key logistics updates for the week (Week 1 of June 2024)

CMA CGM announced that salvage work has been ordered for one of the container ships chartered for the Asia-West Africa service. The Northern Juvenile reportedly reported a cargo fire on May 26, and the CMA CGM considers the ship's location to be about 600 nautical miles from Port Klang, Malaysia. 'We are advised that, as a result of the fire, shipowners have entered into a salvage agreement with professional salvors under LOF terms to provide firefighting and salvage assistance to the vessel' reports claim consultancy WK Webster. The Northern Juvenile made a stop in Singapore on May 23 after loading in China at Qingdao Port on May 7-8, Shanghai Port on May 9-10, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on May 10-11, and Nansha Port on May 13-14. According to the AIS signal, the ship is sailing with two tugboats at a speed of 2 knots and is at the northern end of the Malacca Strait.

The Portuguese Union of Port Administration Workers (SNTAP) declared a series of strikes in June that would impact all ports in the country. The reasons for the strike include failure to fulfil the union's salary increase proposal. The union added that port administrations have been unresponsive to meeting requests and disregarded workers' demands. The chairman of SNTAP mentioned that nationwide strike action can have a significant impact, but guarantees minimal service

Customs and immigration officials have decided to strike over contract negotiations with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). In the strike vote held from 4/10 to 5/23, 96% of the border service group under the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) supported, and the union announced that the members had not signed a contract for more than two years. The report of the Public Interest Committee (PIC) is expected to be released before the mediation meeting on June 3, and the union is expected to enter a legal strike position after the report is released. The Canadian government announced, “We are doing our best to reach a fair and reasonable agreement for border service employees.”. Since 90% of CBSA front-line employees are classified as essential workers who are not subject to strike measures, the risk of strike is relatively lower than that of railway strikes. However, even if 90% do not participate in the strike, it is expected that the speed of work such as customs will decrease.

Houthi rebels vow to expand military operations. On May 30, Houthi rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi announced that he would continue military operations to support Palestine in the Gaza war and expand military operations 'qualitatively and quantitatively'. Meanwhile, the schedule reliability of liner continues to decline. The liner industry’s schedule reliability performance declined in the first quarter of this year, reserving earlier improvements as the Red Sea crisis and mounting port congestion disrupted carrier services. The volume of goods is maintained stable, but this decline is expected to continue until the second quarter of 2024.

Currently, the railway union says it can go on strike within 72 hours after the CIRB's ruling, which is expected at the end of this month. However, the government stressed that the strike is unnecessary as mediated negotiations are scheduled to begin on June 3. The Canadian International Forwarders Association has written to the government arguing that a 72-hour notice period is insufficient, as supply chains need 30 days or more to prepare for work stoppages.

Strong winds at Denver International Airport led to significant disruptions, causing delays and cancellations of hundreds of flights. On Tuesday, over 500 flights were delayed, and 37 were canceled as the FAA issued a ground delay due to the high winds, which resulted in average departure delays of 69 minutes. The situation worsened on Monday, with 1,230 flights delayed and 52 canceled. The high winds, with gusts reaching up to 50 mph, not only affected flight schedules but also caused damage across the Denver metro area, including downed trees and power outages .

French air traffic controllers have announced a new strike from May 31 to June 7, which could impact flights within France and over French airspace. This action follows a significant disruption on May 25, when 70% of flights at Paris Orly were canceled. The strike, organized by the Usac-CGT union, is in response to ongoing tensions with the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) over proposed reforms.

Unionized Border Force staff at Heathrow Airport (LHR) in London plan to strike May 31-June 2. Purpose of strike is to protest against change of work pattern, and about 500 workers are expected to participate in Terminal 2, 3, 4, and 5. The Border Force mainly performs passport screening when arriving at the airport. They will deny overtime for 3 weeks from June 4 to 25. There is a possibility of delay or disruption in international flights to and from LHR from May 31 to June 2.

Full reopening of Baltimore's ship channel delayed. The challenging task of removing the final piece of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge will take a bit longer than expected, according to the federal unified command that is managing restoration of the navigation channel. From May 20, merchant ships were able to use waterways with a depth of 50 feet and a width of 400 feet, but the waterways were narrower than before the bridge collapsed. Due to the high difficulty and safety maintenance of the bridge debris removal work, it is expected that the work will be carried out as early as June 8th or as late as June 10.

Unionized Air Dolomiti (EN) and Unionized Wiz Air (W6) crew members are scheduled to strike across Italy on May 28. The ground and security staff belonging to the union plan strikes at several major airports. Affected airports are Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) - Ground staff strike at 00:01-23:59, Milan Linate Airport (LIN) - Ground staff and security staff strike at 00:01-23:59, Crotone-Sant'Anna Airport (CRV), Lamezia Terme International Airport (SUF), Reggio Calabria Airport (REG), Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE), Verona Villafranca Airport (VRN).