Biggest U.S. Retailers Charter Private Cargo Ships To Sail Around Port Delays
Oct 12, 2021
Global supply-chain delays are so severe that some of the biggest U.S. retailers have resorted to an extreme—and expensive—tactic to try to stock shelves this holiday season: They are chartering their own cargo ships to import goods. Port delays, Covid-19 outbreaks and worker shortages have snarled the flow of products between Asia and North America, threatening the supplies of everything from holiday decorations and toys to appliances and furniture. It is taking roughly 80 days to transport goods across the Pacific, or twice as long as before the pandemic, retail and shipping executives said. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
You can charter all you want, but it still has to come into a port and wait to be unloaded. Chartering only solves one of the problems. Currently 80 vessels sitting in LA waiting to be unloaded. Usually there is 1 or 2.