The US East Coast dockworkers strike will begin on 1 October 2024, throwing the container shipping market into turmoil with significant uncertainty over the duration of the industrial action and lack of US government action to stop the strike. Carriers have done little to deal with the situation, with some of them scrambling to apply port disruption surcharges only at the last minute and ad hoc USEC port omissions with cargo discharged to upstream ports. Some 90 ships that are scheduled to call at USEC ports in the coming week will be shut out with no alternative plans available at this point.
Freight rates that have been under pressure in the last 2 months are expected to rebound if the USEC strike stretches beyond the first 2 weeks of October, with current rates already extended through the Chinese Golden Week holidays starting on 1 October.
Linerlytica
US East Coast port chaos ahead
US East Coast ports are poised to shut down from 1 October 2024 with ramifications that could be far more serious than all previous port strikes in the US, including the 1971 ILWU strike that lasted 130 days, the 1977 ILA selective strike that lasted for 57 days, the 2002 PMA lockout of the ILWU that lasted for 11 days and the 2014-2015 ILWU work slowdowns that persisted for almost 5 months.
On the eve of the port strike on 29 September 2024, there are 54 containerships for 371,000 teu docked at ports on the East Coast with a further 90 ships for 505,000 teu that are scheduled to call at the East Coast in the next 7 days with the build up of ships expected to cause severe port congestion over the coming weeks.
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