Major Port in Israel, Force Majeure Declared By Shipping Company

Evergreen Marine Corp. announced that its 1,778 TEU vessel Ever Cosy suffered force majeure, was unable to call at the port of Ashdod, Israel, as planned, and was diverted to Haifa.

The company said that the situation was beyond its control and that all cargo destined for Ashdod had been unloaded in Haifa, adding: "Thereafter, the main contract of carriage is deemed to have been terminated and all liabilities of the carrier will cease."

The company informed its customers, "In order to protect your interests and minimize your costs, we sincerely recommend that you pick up your shipment at the port of Haifa as soon as possible. If necessary, we recommend that you contact your cargo insurance company for assistance."

While Ashdod continues to operate, the shipping company noted congestion at the port, whose website is blocked for security reasons.
On its Facebook page, it noted, "Even now, we continue to work at the port as usual, while meeting Israel's needs. Port workers maintain business continuity, loading and unloading essential goods for Israel's residents. The port continues to operate as usual."

MSC informed clients that "Currently, Israel's main ports continue to operate, including the main terminals in Ashdod and Haifa, although congestion is currently occurring in Ashdod due to increased security checks and labor shortages, resulting in increased wait times. Inland services, both road and rail, remain fully operational in and around the country.

The company said it will continue to accept bookings to Israel but warned that "certain dangerous goods cannot be released at the port of Ashdod due to current government restrictions on certain UN regulations." As a result, it is not possible to create new orders for restricted, dangerous goods at this time. "If the affected cargo is already in transit, we will develop contingency plans for unloading at other ports, and we will keep our customers informed of any changes in the destination of the cargo."

MSC added that its office in Israel has been closed.

Maersk said it would continue to accept bookings and that its services "remain operational" with the exception of dangerous goods in Haifa and Ashdod.

Maersk said it was "offering a range of relief programs for customers with cargoes in or destined for Israel," including a waiver of change-of-destination (COD) fees, "subject to reloading and transfer costs," and any ocean freight to the new destination and any difference in ocean freight prices to the new destination." Demurrage and demurrage charges, which were suspended until Nov. 8 for all locations in Israel,

Adding, "This applies to import containers destined for Israel, as well as when all containers are outbound to Israel at the first port of loading. The COD request deadline is three days prior to the expected arrival time at the port of transhipment and five days prior to the expected arrival time at the final port of discharge."

In addition, Hapag-Lloyd's official website issued an announcement on the 13th that the operational situation in Israel remains relatively stable. For Ashdod and Haifa, the ports have implemented restrictions on the receipt of dangerous goods, and therefore Hapag-Lloyd is no longer accepting dangerous goods bookings to and from Ashdod and Haifa.

Freightos, which has an office in Israel, confirmed that its employees are safe and said that freight rates to Israel have fallen. "Containerized freight rates from China to the port of Ashdod have dropped by about 10 percent since last week but are in line with overall rates in the region. Israeli carrier Zim warned of possible short-notice service interruptions and announced a war-risk insurance premium of $80 to $120 for containers to and from Israeli ports.

Insurers are reportedly charging 10 times the extra premium for voyages to Israel, equivalent to 0.15% to 0.2% of a ship's value, or tens of thousands of dollars, up from 0.0125% previously.

Meanwhile, oil prices have risen as a result of the conflict, with the price of Brent crude up 3.3 percent in the past five days. Ligentia told clients, "If these increases continue, they could impact transportation fuel surcharges and future fuel adjustment factors."