Potential port shutdowns in California could hamper New Zealand export shipments to the US, adding New Zealand’s freight congestion woes.
More than 700 dock workers have contracted Covid-19 at four major ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, creating a labour shortage.
The Los Angeles Times reported that a bottleneck of vessels was developing at LA’s twin ports and an urgent campaign had started to get workers vaccinated.
However, a shutdown was possible for a period of time and it could have significant issues for New Zealand exports as well as imports from the US, Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation president Chris Edwards said.
Edwards said there were normally several monthly port calls to New Zealand from the US; in January there had been one because of congestion at Auckland.
That lack of connection and the California backlogs would ultimately ‘’affect the export market going back up to the States, with apples and produce and those sorts of things.”
Port congestion is a worldwide phenomenon because of supply chain disruptions due to Covid and a global surge in demand for consumer goods.
Ports of Auckland’s own logistics issues have compounded the problem, leaving ships in the harbour for up to two weeks at one point before they could berth.
On Friday Maersk announced its weekly OC1 service between New Zealand and the east coast of the US would temporarily bypass Auckland until April, but it would continue to visit Tauranga.
While the freight issues have left many importers, retailers and manufacturers waiting for orders, Edwards said there was a ray of light if Ports of Auckland could recruit and bring in experienced foreign crane drivers.
The port was left short of crane and straddle drivers when workers returned home during lockdown, and Edwards said he understood the port was making good progress on that front.
If it was successful, the port’s backlog could be cleared in a matter of weeks, he said.