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Zebra Technologies Awards DACHSER Logistics  Partner of the Year

DACHSER UK, the international distribution and logistics specialist has been awarded the 2019 Logistics Partner of the year for the EMEA region by long-standing customer, Zebra Technologies, the multi-billion dollar global supplier of computer technology and products across many industries.

Sea Freight: Disruptions at Ningbo and Tianjin Ports

Regarding the disruptions at Ningbo ports, we would like to give you an update. Recently, a Covid outbreak has occurred in Tianjin. Below we offer you an overview of the current situation.

Ningbo

• At Ningbo, the authority has downgraded the emergency level. Correspondingly, the temporary closure of the Beilun district is lifted, except the centre of the epidemic.
• Currently, most of the trucking companies are granted permits to enter the Beilun district. In general, our operation of FCL and LCL are mostly back to normal with some delays of vessels due to port congestion.
• There are isolated Covid cases reported in the cities within the Zhejiang province, but it is not affecting the operations in Ningbo, except for pick-ups and deliveries from those locations.

Tianjin

Over the weekend, multiple Covid cases were reported in Tianjin and some of the cases were tested positive to the Omicron variants. In response to this incident, a mass PCR test campaign has been conducted for all residents in the city.

• It is reported that four out of the eight sea freight terminals in Tianjin are closed, only vehicles with special permits are granted access to enter.
• Pick-ups and deliveries in and from other provinces are unlikely under the current situation.
• Pick-ups and deliveries within the city are also at a halt, as the residents of the whole city will be staying at home until the mass PCR test campaign is completed and the results are available.
• At the DACHSER branch in Tianjin, our employees will work from home until the negative results are available.

We will continue to monitor the situation and rest assured that you will be informed of the developments. In case you have any questions, please contact your local representative of DACHSER for a discussion of possible transport alternatives.

COVID-19 new virus variant Omicron – impact on air and sea freight services

The new COVID-19 virus variant Omicron, which was detected to be widespread in South Africa, has led to some cancellation of passenger flights to and from South Africa.

Apart from this, there are currently no massive restrictions, but it cannot be entirely ruled out that some countries or regions will implement further measures to contain the spread of this virus variant.

This could lead to restrictions on cargo space due to a lack of belly capacity on passenger flights. In addition, Hong Kong Airport has announced that even cargo aircrafts touching Omicron high-risk countries such as South Africa will not be allowed to enter Hong Kong until further notice. Therefore, flight rerouting will be expected.

For the ocean freight sector, there has been no change of the current situation so far. We have only received the information from one shipping company that a new service with South Africa is suspended for two months.

Furthermore, there are also discussions in progress in the Asian market about tightening the COVID-19 rules for ship crews, but these are still under negotiation. Confirmed is only that feeder services from the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to/from South China, including Hong Kong, are also suspended from December to January. This could lead to a challenging situation with trucking capacity and more changes of transport modes to air freight.

The team of DACHSER is in daily contact with all involved parties and doing everything possible to minimise any delays of your shipment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with your local DACHSER representative who will be happy to assist you.