In the cross-border industry, shipping has always been of utmost importance. Every day that a container is delayed at sea, it means a loss of cash flow, inventory turnover, and listing ranking. Once the shipping schedule is disrupted, the Q4 replenishment plan, advertising budget, and other related processes will all be disrupted.
However, recently, several rather serious shipping accidents have occurred, causing many sellers to worry deeply. First, a large container ship of Maersk collided with a gantry crane while berthing at Yantian Port; then, an HMM cargo ship caught fire in the Indian Ocean, and the shipowner officially declared a joint maritime loss; and before that, an automotive transport ship caught fire in the engine room of the East Pacific, and 22 crew members abandoned the ship at night.
For cross-border sellers, if the berth is lost, the schedule needs to be rearranged; if the guarantee is not provided, the goods cannot be picked up; if the shipping schedule is disrupted, new shipping bookings need to be made. Now, let's specifically understand the impact of these events and how to solve the shipping problems that have arisen?
01
A Maersk container ship collided with a gantry crane
Around 12:00 noon on November 9th, at the No. 12 berth of Shenzhen Yantian Port, a 366-meter-long container ship was in the process of berthing when it collided with the dock. One gantry crane collapsed on the spot, and the collapsed steel structure pressed towards the rear storage area.
The vessel involved was the MAERSK CINCINNATI, owned by Maersk, with the IMO number 9936410. It was delivered by Jiangnan Shipbuilding in 2024 and flies the Singapore flag. Its carrying capacity is approximately 15,500 TEUs.
This ship was operating under the "Double Star" cooperation framework between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd for the AE3/NE3 Asia-Norway route. The current voyage number was 645W. The call sequence was Singapore - Yantian - Ningbo - Shanghai - Tanjong Pagar - Saida - Norway.
Currently, the most widely circulated explanation online is that "strong gusty winds caused the vessel to deviate during berthing". On the day of the incident, the Shenzhen meteorological department did issue a blue strong wind warning, and the forecast of gusts above level 8 did exist. However, this statement is only an industry speculation and there is no confirmed causal relationship.
As of November 10th, the口径 of the Shenzhen Emergency Management Bureau was "The accident is under investigation". Maersk and the port operator have not released official statements. The casualties, the extent of the vessel's damage, and the quantity of goods lost in the storage area have not been confirmed yet.
It is reported that Yantian Port has over 20 deep-water berths and more than 80 gantry cranes. Just looking at the numbers, the damage of one gantry crane won't cause the entire port to come to a standstill. Especially for feeder ships and vessels of 300 meters or less in size, their operations will remain largely unaffected.
However, the problem lies in the location of the damage. Berth 12 is reserved for super-large vessels, which means that the 366-400-meter class ships originally scheduled to dock here will have to change to other berths or choose an offshore anchorage temporarily. And Yantian Port was already in a queue before the accident.
In the operation announcement released by Hapag-Lloyd on November 4th, the average waiting time for ships over 300 meters in length at Yantian Port was approximately 2.5 days, and for those under 300 meters, it was about 0.5 days. After the accident, the information circulating in the industry has changed to 3-4 days, which indicates that the waiting time is experiencing significant fluctuations.
Furthermore, what is more worthy of attention for sellers outside South China is the sequence of port calls. For the 645W voyage, Yantian was ahead of Ningbo and Shanghai.
That is to say, the same ship first departs from South China for unloading, and then heads to East China for loading. If the Yantian process is delayed, in order to catch up with the subsequent Suez Canal window and the Nordic port visits schedule, the most common handling method used by shipping companies is to shorten the waiting time at downstream ports. The berthing windows at Ningbo Meishan and Shanghai Yangshan will be postponed, and in extreme cases, the ship will skip ports directly.
Therefore, the accidents in South China might ultimately be paid for by the goods in East China.
02
The HMM Platinum vessel caught fire.
If the accident in Shantian was mainly about delays, then this ship in the Indian Ocean was completely stuck.
On September 27th this year, the container ship HMM Platinum set sail from the Katurapalli Port in India, with its destination being Santos in Brazil. When it reached the waters near the southern part of Madagascar, a fire broke out in the containers on board.
According to the updated report by the British claims agency W.E. Cox Claims Group on October 8th, the ship was carrying approximately 2,300 containers. The goods near the fire scene may have suffered multiple damages from the flames, high temperatures, smoke, and the water used for firefighting. The final extent of the loss is still undetermined. HMM has confirmed that all the crew members are safe.
However, during this period, the port of refuge changed three times, but none of them succeeded in landing.
The first option considered was Durban. Later, due to the tight berth situation in Durban, Elizabeth Port was listed as a backup option. The industry's judgment at that time was that "the berth availability at Elizabeth Port was better."
Starting from October 28th, the vessel has been waiting to berth outside the anchorage in Durban. On October 8th, the professional rescue company SMIT was hired to operate according to the Lloyd's Open Contract for Rescue (LOF). By November 5th, the South African National Port Authority (TNPA) confirmed the latest berthing application received, which pointed to Ngqura Port (formerly known as Kokago Port), located in Nelson Mandela Bay.
However, Pamela Yoyo, the port manager of Nelson Mandela Bay, stated: The application has been received, but it has not been approved yet. The relevant departments are still in consultation; whether it can be released depends on whether the berthing berth, necessary equipment and operational resources are available, and all relevant departments' permits need to be obtained.
Until November 8th, the South African shipping information agency Africa Ports & Ships quoted the AIS data from November 6th, showing that HMM Platinum was still anchored outside the anchorage in Durban, about 29 kilometers away from Durban Port, and the tugboat Umkhhuseli was assisting nearby.
That is to say, from the time of the fire until now, more than a month later, this ship has not completed any real berthing.
However, arriving earlier than the vessel's arrival at the port was a declaration of general average.
On November 6th, W.E. Cox issued the latest update, stating that HMM has officially declared general average as the shipowner and appointed Korhi Average Adjusters & Surveyors Ltd as the common average adjuster, guaranteeing that the collection work will be handled by Korhi and Richards Hogg Lindley jointly.
It is worth noting that general average is not "cargo loss settlement". Its logic is that when the vessel and the cargo are facing the same danger and intentionally take reasonable measures to ensure common safety, and as a result, incur additional costs or sacrifices, the benefiting parties should share this money according to the rules.
The key lies in the word "common". Even if your cabinet is far from the fire scene and hasn't been affected by smoke, as long as it is on this ship, it is still one of the sharing parties.
For the cargo owners on HMM Platinum, what they need to prepare now are two guarantees:
One is the rescue guarantee. SMIT operates according to the LOF contract, and the rescue compensation needs to be determined according to the contract mechanism. The cargo party needs to issue a guarantee first, and then the goods can enter the subsequent transfer or release process.
The other is the common average guarantee. For those who have taken out cargo insurance, the guarantee is usually issued by the insurer. What the freight forwarder needs to do is to quickly align the bill of lading, container numbers, and insurance information with the insurance company. For those without insurance, they can only provide a cash deposit as required. The specific amount has not been announced yet.
The calculation period for joint maritime losses is usually measured in months according to industry practice. That is to say, there is a considerable time gap between the "right to pick up the goods" and the "payment" for this batch of goods.
03
The engine room of a cargo transport ship caught fire.
Although the third accident was not as "costly" as the first two, it was sufficient to illustrate the essence of the risks in the open-sea navigation segment.
On August 6th, the on-duty personnel of the US Coast Guard in the southwestern region received a distress signal from a ship. The ship was traveling from Tianjin, China to Manzanillo, Ecuador, and was located about 630 nautical miles south of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica at that time.
According to the crew's report, the engine room caught fire, and then the ship's fixed fire suppression system was activated. The fire situation was initially under control. However, the ship was too far from the land, and the Coast Guard immediately sent a distress message to nearby merchant ships through the AMVER (Automatic Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System).
At 23:33 local time on August 6th, the crew reported an increase in smoke on board and the situation deteriorated. The captain then ordered to abandon the ship, and all 22 crew members entered the lifeboats. The captain himself remained on the ship to continue monitoring.
After that, two merchant ships responded to the distress, namely the bulk carrier Jin Hai Ping and the oil tanker Degu. At around 12:21 on August 7th, all 22 crew members safely boarded the Jin Hai Ping, while the Degu remained at the scene to assist. The rescued crew members were later sent to Akita, Japan. There were no casualties and no pollution incidents were reported throughout the process.
It is known that the involved ship was built in 2024, with a length of approximately 200 meters and a width of about 38 meters. It flies the Marshall Islands flag and is a typical cargo transport ship, the kind commonly seen in the Chinese and South American markets.
Due to the continuous increase in maritime connections between China and South America in recent years, the export of complete vehicles has heavily relied on this type of roll-on/roll-off transportation capacity. Currently, the ships are coordinating the subsequent handling with the American maritime rescue company Resolve Marine. The cause of the fire has not been disclosed yet.
When we look at these three accidents as a whole, it is easy to see that apart from the loss of goods on board, the resulting chain reactions will also have wide-ranging impacts. The accident may only last for a few hours, but the subsequent increase in costs can last for several months.
04
The liability structures are not the same.
The accident at Yantian Port involving the collision with the gantry crane and the fire incident at HMM are two completely different liability structures.
The accident at Yantian Port falls under the category of third-party liability accidents during berthing. The costs for gantry crane maintenance and cargo damage at the storage yard are covered through the shipowner's insurance policy plus the claims association (P&I) for the port. They are not shared among ordinary cargo owners.
It also does not constitute a case of joint salvage. Joint salvage requires "ship and cargo facing a common danger and making conscious sacrifices for common safety". However, this collision was an accident, and the cargo on board was not in a sinking risk. Therefore, there is no issue of sharing. What the cargo owners truly need to bear is the indirect losses caused by the delay. That should follow their own cargo insurance.
In contrast, the fire accident at HMM was the opposite. The shipowner has officially declared joint salvage. Both guarantees cannot be omitted. Without insurance, it's just cash. Sellers who cannot distinguish between these two situations are likely to remain silent when it comes to claiming and save money when it's time to take out insurance.
For cross-border sellers who may be affected, the key points to confirm for goods heading to the Shantian direction are the name of the loading vessel and the new ETD; for goods going to Ningbo or Shanghai, the key points are whether there is any postponement or port skip. If the cut-off time is moved forward, the factory's loading plan needs to be pushed forward accordingly.
When purchasing cargo insurance, it is necessary to clarify whether it covers joint salvage sharing and salvage guarantee? Many sellers have purchased insurance but do not know if their policy can issue a guarantee letter. They only ask when they need it, but by then it's too late.
All the ship company's delay notifications, emails, announcements screenshots, and AIS tracks need to be retained and archived. These are the only evidence for subsequent applications for storage fee reduction, insurance claims, and explanations to customers about the delay. Oral promises are worthless in the insurance claim process.
At the same time, the demurrage fees for the destination port and the storage fees are generally borne by the consignee. If you don't mention it, this amount may eventually be included in your liability as a dispute.
Summary: For cross-border sellers during the peak season, these three incidents precisely correspond to the most typical problems: flight delays, cargo freezing, and capacity shortages.
1. In the face of flight delays, one must first confirm the name of the receiving vessel and the new ETD, whether the Ningbo-Shanghai route has been extended or had any port skips, and whether the customs clearance time has changed.
2. In the face of cargo freezing, if insurance for freight has been purchased, immediately align the information with the insurance company and issue a guarantee as soon as possible; if not insured, be prepared to pay a cash guarantee based on the proportion of the value of the goods. At the same time, in the Q4 sales plan, do not expect this batch of goods to be sold in the short term.
3. If there is a shortage of transportation capacity, closely monitor the subsequent price and cabin changes of this route. Although the accident does not directly affect the containers, the contraction of transportation capacity will eventually be reflected in the quotations.
Due to the peak season replenishment pushing the value and density of goods to the highest level of the year, it is precisely the weakest time for risk resistance. Whether you can handle the accidents faster and more stably than others is the dividing line between whether you can retain customers or not.