MSC, the largest ocean carrier in the world, has notified clients it will terminate their container contracts once cargo is delivered to a diversion port, leaving shippers responsible for moving goods or potentially face delay charges.
"For these shipments, the contract of carriage will be declared terminated at this alternate port and storage, D&Ds and on-carriage costs to the initially intended destination will be for the sole cargo's account," the MSC advisory said. MSC said in its customer communication that it "apologizes for the disruption caused by this contingency plan which is required in response to events beyond our control, but which is taken in compliance with the terms of the contract of carriage."Maersk is the only major carrier to say it will provide transport from diverted ports for customers.
Major ports up and down the East Coast, including Savannah, Brunswick, Virginia, Charleston, and New York/New Jersey, as well as the companies providing chassis for rail and truck transport, have told CNBC they have the capacity to ramp up operations to meet the needs of incoming cargo. "We are much better equipped to mitigate supply chain disruptions than we were just a few years ago, thanks to increased coordination across the supply chain and new efforts to strengthen both our physical and digital infrastructure," Buttigieg said, according to a readout from the meeting.