Weekly Logistics Briefing Key logistics updates for the week (Week 4 of Sep. 2024)

An east and Gulf coast port strike is looking increasingly likely today, after the White House said it would not invoke its legal powers to intervene. 177 trade associations urged the US government to act if negotiations with the ILA don’t resume. However, the White House told Reuters: “We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now". The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is preparing for a potential strike scheduled for October 1, 2024. The ILA represents dockworkers at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports and this would be the first strike in more than 45 years. The current six-year contract is set to expire on September 30. The union and the USMX port operators remain at odds over wage increases and port automation. The latest announcement by the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) reveals that labour negotiations for US East and Gulf port workers have not progressed in the past few weeks.

The suspension follows coordinated explosions of communication devices in Lebanon, which resulted in at least 9 deaths and around 3,000 injuries. This security incident has impacted flight operations to Israel and surrounding regions. Lufthansa announced that all flights to Tel Aviv, Israel and Tehran, Iran will be suspended until at least September 21. During this period, flights will bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace. The Lufthansa Group includes Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, in addition to Lufthansa itself. Air France also suspended its flights from Paris to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Beirut, Lebanon.

Pilots will go on strike at Portuguese ports in September to urge the revision of severance pay. All ports will be on strike for 48 hours on September 23 and September 30, Monday from 7 am. Port pilot is the expert who helps ships safely pass through the port when entering and leaving the port.

On September 20 around 5:45 p.m., a fire broke out on a front-end loader at Port Miami. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded quickly, extinguishing the fire. Thick smoke was visible, but no injuries were reported, and traffic near the MacArthur Causeway remained unaffected. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Brussels Airlines plans to cancel most of its flights on October 1, due to a nationwide strike in Belgium. Brussels Airlines will have to cancel 80 of its 203 scheduled flights for the day. The airline is one of the key hub carriers within the Lufthansa Group. The purpose of strike is to response to inflation and dissatisfaction with wage negotiations. In the previous month, Brussels Airport handled approximately 2.4 million passengers and 18,600 flights.

Manaus declares state of emergency for 180 days due to dry in Rio Negro. The measure aims to meet the needs of riverside communities and include Manaus in the list of municipalities that will receive federal resources to deal with the drought. According to monitoring data from the Port of Manaus, the water level of the Rio Negro River has fallen by more than 3 meters over the past 13 days. The average drop was between 25 and 27 centimeters per day. As of September 13, the water level was 16.75 meters. The water level on the same day last year was 20.91 meters. The worst drought in 120 years reached 12.70 meters. Last year, during the drought, the Rio Negro reached its lowest level in the last 120 years.

Bebinca, the strongest typhoon to hit Shanghai since 1949, made landfall on early September 16. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at the Shanghai airport starting from Sunday. In Hangzhou, about 170km southwest of Shanghai, authorities were planning to cancel more than 180 flights. Over 40,000 people were evacuated and trains and ferries were suspended as residents were asked to stay at home amid disruptions.

A power outage at Dublin Airport on September 15 caused delays, affecting check-in, security, and boarding processes at Terminal 2. The power cut, linked to an outage in north County Dublin, disrupted over 30,000 premises and caused problems with the airport's backup generators. Despite 15 delayed flights in the morning, most operations resumed normally. Passengers experienced long queues, and the airport operator apologized for the inconvenience.

Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk’s Gemini Cooperation represents a significant shift in the global shipping landscape and aims to provide two alternative routes for cargo transport, addressing the current instability in the Red Sea region. If the Red Sea becomes a viable and safe passage, Gemini Cooperation will operate with 300 vessels, handling a capacity of 3.4 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units). This network will include 27 mainline routes and 30 shuttle routes. If the Red Sea remains unstable, Gemini Cooperation will reroute services around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, increasing the fleet size to 340 vessels and handling 3.7 million TEU. The number of routes will expand to 59, with two additional mainline routes included.

Maritime Union of Australia (MUA)'s industrial action plan has been announced. This strike targets major bulk and general cargo ports in Australia, especially Qube, a major integrated terminal operator. The labor contract of port workers belonging to MUA expired in June 2024, but new contract negotiations have not progressed. MUA is ready to go on strike with support of 100 % and 99% or more in Melbourne, Port Kembla, and Brisbane, respectively. This strike begins with limited measures such as a ban on overtime work and restrictions on changes in work allocation, and there may be a suspension of work from 1 hour to up to 24 hours.