Typhoon season keeps carriers on their toes

With typhoon season in full swing, shippers have been keeping a keen eye on Taiwan where service were recently disrupted when Typhoon Saola closed all ports and resulted in the suspension of cargo operations – with the exception of Kaohsiung on the west coast of the country. Maersk Line’s Kerry Rosser confirmed several recent typhoon-related delays. “The first was Typhoon Vicente which impacted Hong Kong port. All vessel operations were stopped during the typhoon. Vessel operations resumed once the typhoon passed and some delays were experienced as the port cleared the backlog of vessels that required berthing,” she told FTW. “The second was Typhoon Saola which impacted eastern Taiwan. Again port and vessel operations ceased for the safety of the people working in the terminal as well as to limit the potential damage to customers’ cargo,” said Rosser. While the line did experience berthing delays, it called at all the ports on its rotation, she said. A Safmarine spokesman also noted delays. “South Africa is served via transhipment through four Taiwanese ports – Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tao Yuan and Keelung. At that stage, acceptance for cargoes from South Africa destined for Taiwan continued. Cargoes en route to Kaohsiung port – which remained open – could be delivered as planned. However cargoes destined for the other ports faced delays as vessels omitted the port call in the short term.” While marketing director of MSC Glenn Delve was aware of the typhoon, a quick check revealed that there had been no service disruptions at that stage – but the line would continue to monitor the situation, he said. Typhoon season runs from May through to late September, with September particularly susceptible to typhoons. If you want to keep a computer outlook on the possibility of typhoons in the area there is a wealth of weather forecasting available. One site for tropical cyclone-related information is the World Meteorological Organisation Website – click the Severe Weather Information Centre link. As at FTW’s print deadline there were no tropical cyclone warning signals CAPTION Hong Kong port ... the recent victim of typhoon-related delays.