GERMAN shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd, faced with rail and road closures to and from Vancouver and cargo pile-ups in Montreal and Toronto have announced an operational update with full recovery expected to take a "number of weeks".
From of Vancouver, Highway 1 is closed as is Highway 99. Highway 3 has been reopened, but only for essential travel with the same conditions applying to Highway 7. Highway 5 has been closed long-term, said the Hapag-Lloyd advisory.
The Canadian National Railway (CN) mainline was still washed out while the Canadian Pacific (CP) rail link to/from Vancouver remains open as of November 23.
Thus, there is no export loads and empties taken from Toronto to the Port of Vancouver (POV) and the same applies for shipments from Montreal.
US ramps will accept dry export traffic, but not reefers or pre-gate billed empties. Canadian ramps will accept cargo under the same conditions.
Vessel delays, increased yard congestion and heightened anchorage demand is expected to continue. Berth availability remains dependent on rail car supply.