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Singapore; 10
October, 2002 – Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) today welcomed news that ports on the west coast of the United States had reopened.
NOL’s container-shipping unit, APL, calls at three of the affected west coast ports – Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle. APL has 11 vessels either at those west-coast ports or due to arrive.
NOL President and CEO Flemming Jacobs noted that resources had been added to APL’s terminal operations, but also cautioned that a return to normalcy will take time.
“All ships waiting will be handled as they arrived, so some of our customers’ cargo will be available relatively soon,” said NOL Group President and CEO Flemming Jacobs. “However, with the significant backlog of vessels overall, depending on productivity levels it could be four to five weeks before our schedules throughout are fully back to normal.”
Mr Jacobs said current estimates of additional costs due to the disruption and clearing and repositioning of vessels and containers were in the order of US$9 to10 million. That could possibly be impacted by delays to the turnaround of containers and equipment in the US as a result of congestion, he said.
“We’ve been fortunate that our pre-planning has allowed us generally to satisfy customer requirements in Asia and continue to take bookings during the disruption, while of course exports from the US have been held back,” he said. “However, we expect that as ports open, the export backlog will soon push through.
“We are continuing to work with our customers to find ways to minimize the disruption to their businesses,” Mr Jacobs, said.
Media inquiries:
Sarah Lockie, NOL (Singapore), +1-65-6371 5022; or email sarah_lockie@nol.com.sg
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