Shipping Delays across Australia

Posted: November 14, 2023Category: Updates

Australia has suffered two major set backs at their wharves creating shipping delays for imports, exports, and shipments routed through Australian ports. If you are concerned about your current shipments that involve Australian ports, please feel free to contact us.

Wharf Strikes in Australia

Following dozens of work bans between 6 October and 20 October 2023, the CFMMEU (Maritime Union of Australia division) has sent DP World Australia additional Protected Industrial Action notices for each of their Australian terminals at the following ports until the 20th of November 2023.

Brisbane: 13/11/2023 to 20/11/2023
Sydney: 13/11/2023 to 20/11/2023
Melbourne: 13/11/2023 to 20/11/2023
Fremantle: 13/11/2023 to 20/11/2023

The union is seeking pay rises for wharfies who worked during the pandemic and claims that DP World is working towards changes that would reduce wages up to 32 per cent while also looking to make roster changes that will negatively affect workers' quality of life. MUA national assistant secretary Adrian Evans says the union is “fighting for a fair work-life balance, safety, dignity and respect in the workplace, and for the removal of ambiguity in our agreement so when we get a deal we know it will be honoured”.

The strikes are timed such that they will hinder Christmas imports if DP World doesn't come to the table with accepted offers for the union, resulting in a calculated loss of $11.2 million dollars in output loss from imports and exports per day after last year's figures were adjusted for inflation.

It is important to note that very little operation information is being relayed to carriers and therefore the shipping community. Wharf receivals are given with very little notice which can affect both import and export cargo alike, and may result in wharf delays and cargo delays, which are unavoidable during this time.

DP World Australia Cyber Security Incident

DP World Australia, one of Australia's largest port operators managing 40% of imported and exported goods in Australia, suffered a serious cyber security incident that forced them to halt operations for three days at its container terminals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle ports. After the three days they hoped too move about 5000 containers throughout the following day to make up for the backlog from the preceding three days of lost work, but note that ongoing investigations and responses to protect their network could result in further disruptions in the coming week.

The Australian Government has reformed cyber security rules in February of 2023 and set up an agency to coordinate responses to major hacking events in Australia to try to prevent long outages such as this incident, including requirements to report all ransomware incidents, demands or payments. DP World has not said whether or not they have received any such demands.

Will my shipment be affected?

If you have a shipment that is coming from or routed through Australia, there is a good chance that it will have been impacted by these recent events and could be facing delays, pushing back their arrival ETAs. If you have any concerns regarding specific shipments we are managing for you at this time, please contact us.