This story has legs. Now the office staff of HMM are involved, and there are sympathy strikes by other Korean line seafarers. Seafarers have been severely hurt by the Covid stress, some not seeing shore for long periods. Ocean carriers such as HMM are now making bundlesofmoney becauseofvast shortages of container carryng capacity and ports that can’t deal with the increased flow, and workers on the ships recognize that now is the time to throw a wrench into the money-making shipping lines’ projections.
Ships periodically require surveys, which are inspections a lot like your annual car inspection, though a lot of states don’t have them anymore. Key systems of the ship are checked for compliance with safety rules and such things as pollution control equipment. The inspection period for most ships is I believe 5 years. Major surveys occur less often, but result in substantial repairs most of the time. Voyages on the open sea put a great strain on ships’ mechanical structure.
Repairs of any problems must be made before the ship can sail again. Today most surveys are done in China. See the article for the dominance of China in this market.
Covid quarantines for ship surveys are very strict and expensive. China has maintained recently a zero new infections rte for those arising internally. However there have been a few infections from travelers entering the country. That is why the strict regime is being enforced. Ships are a frequent source of infections; the mariners are exposed for a long time, air circulation is not very good in the interior, and mariners are travelers likely to be exposed to new people wherever they land.
So don’t take your ship to China for your survey work.
Why are our ports not able to keep up with the number of ships coming in? Here’s an opinion.
True it’s an unusual storm, but it seems like the new normal. Some of the angst comes from the thrashing of schedules by the large container ocean lines. And some comes from shippers ordering extra inventory to avoid being caught short as in last year. And some comes from operations practice at the ports.
This article outlines some of the steps that could be taken.
