Maersk, COSCO divert cargo due to congestion at Prince Rupert

Ocean carriers Maersk Line and COSCO Shipping will temporarily divert cargo to Vancouver as dwell times at the Port of Prince Rupert have reached seven days, according to a statement from the carriers.    Port congestion at Prince Rupert has led to the diversion of cargo to the neighboring port of Vancouver.    
   Danish container giant Maersk Line and China’s COSCO Shipping have both said that cargo will be temporarily diverted to Vancouver, as dwell times have grown to seven days in Prince Rupert.
   “We believe that this change will help lessen the congestion at Prince Rupert and the initial intent is for the rotation change to be effective for up to 4 weeks,” Maersk said in an emailed customer advisory. “We will advise upon the vessel rotation’s return to normal schedule.”
   According to local news outlet the Prince Rupert Northern View, COSCO will divert four of its vessels.
   “In order to alleviate congestion at the terminal and to reduce the impact on the movement of your cargo, four vessels originally destined for Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary via Prince Rupert will be diverted to DP World’s Vancouver Centerm terminal first,” the carrier said in a customer advisory obtained by the Prince Rupert Northern View.
   “This is a temporary fix until the port’s terminal expansion work is completed,” COSCO said.
   COSCO normally calls Fairview Container Terminal, also operated by DP World, at the Port of Prince Rupert. The terminal recently completed an expansion project that increased its annual container handling capacity from 850,000 TEUs to 1.35 million TEUs.
   The expansion project also involves 6,000 more feet of on-dock rail for Canadian National (CN), the only railroad with direct access to the port. The rail expansion is still ongoing and, as a result, rail cargo from the port has slowed.
   However, both carriers expect dwell times to reduce to three days or less by November.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, three major container services call Prince Rupert, including the 2M Alliance TP9/Maple service and OCEAN Alliance’s CEN and MTX/AWE2 services. Maersk is a member of the 2M Alliance, while COSCO is a member of the OCEAN Alliance.