We would like to update you on the situation at Southampton Container Terminal (SCT), and thank you for your patience and continued support during this challenging period.
SCT has lifted most restrictions on export deliveries to the quay with effect Monday 29th January. We therefore expect that the situation will gradually improve and return to normality within the next few days.
As the situation improves, we need to be mindful of the causes of the disruption. This was partly due to the recent inclement weather conditions; it is our understanding SCT lost 100 operational hours due to weather conditions over the past month, as opposed to a total of 16 in the whole of last year. The disruption was also due to the deteriorating dwell time of containers on the quay which crept up from 5 to 10 days. As from Monday 29th January, export containers will NOT be accepted to the quay if delivered in excess of 7 calendar days prior to vessel departure. This measure is aimed at keeping the stack level to a manageable level and restoring the turnaround time at the gate.
We would therefore appreciate if you would arrange your export collections to be delivered within 7 calendar days prior to a vessel's expected time of departure in order to avoid extra costs, regardless of whether the delivery is performed under Carrier or Merchant haulage.
We hope this will be a temporary measure and as such, in the meantime, our demurrage free time period and demurrage charges prior to loading will remain unchanged.
