Recent Explosions at two major APAC ports are expected to exacerbate supply chain issues in the region. First, an explosion occurring on August 9 aboard the Yang Ming vessel “YM Mobility” at China’s Ningbo port—one of the busiest ports in the world—has resulted in a complete closure until further notice. The incident happened when a container loaded with hazardous materials exploded. We expect this port’s closure to worsen existing supply chain issues. Congestion and issues at many of the major Asian ports already exist due to other disruptions in the supply chain, mainly re-routings and the trickle-down effects of difficulties navigating the Red Sea.
According to the shipper’s declaration, the container in question is a reefer unit used as a substitute for a dry container. The article does not mention any mis-declared cargo.
In a separate incident on August 11, the MSC Capetown III was berthed at Jaya Container Terminal in the APAC region of Sri Lanka when a fire erupted and escalated to an explosion. Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo is another critical hub in South Asia.
Thankfully, both incidents happened at port and not at sea, where fires and other issues are much more challenging.
Although these incidents are still being investigated for cause, the first line of defense is a proper declaration of dangerous goods so that ships can make accommodations or, at the least, have visibility into where these goods are on board the vessel. Catastrophic incident prevention is one of the reasons for the recent scrutiny and pushes to ship any automobiles that are not on “E” as hazardous. The special provisions allowed to shippers (SP961 and SP962) do NOT apply unless the gas tank is literally “empty.” Since autos often need to move under their own power during shipping, it is extremely rare to receive an auto that is “empty” of gas. Therefore, declaring and moving these as hazardous is more in line with the letter of the law but also gives the steamship line visibility as to where potential issues may exist.
Your Arpin APAC Service team is aware of all shipments that may potentially be impacted by these events and will ensure appropriate parties are informed of any potential service disruption.
