Rotterdam, the main European entry for Asian container cargo, has experienced severe delays as summer shipments unexpectedly surged. Bloomberg News
An unexpected summer surge in cargo through Rotterdam has snarled Europe's busiest container port just as work to upgrade the facility has reduced capacity.
Amid the jam, many shippers are scrambling for alternate routes to avoid some of the longest delays in years at the Dutch port. Many are also paying hefty charges because of the delays.
The upgrading of one of the port's four terminals and a number of off-schedule ship arrivals are exacerbating the problem.
"It's pretty severe with deep-sea vessels arriving out of schedule and the terminal upgrades happening at the same time," said Lodewijk Wisse, a maritime policy adviser at the Dutch Shippers' Council, a trade group of cargo owners known by the Dutch acronym EVO. "We have [containers] that can't be loaded up to smaller ships for transshipment to other European ports."
Mr. Wisse said delays have run up to seven days. Shippers are paying so-called congestion charges of up to $75 per container to compensate operators of support vessels such as feeder ships and barges that get caught up in the delays.
EVO estimates that the charges are adding around 7% to its members' total cost of moving a container from Asia to Europe or the reverse. Cargo going through Rotterdam includes everything from shoes, clothing and toys to kitchen appliances, furniture and fresh produce.
Dutch brewer Heineken NV is diverting part of its beer exports to other ports, including the Belgium port of Antwerp, to avoid delays. It is also using trucks instead of barges to move beer from its brewery in the port town Zeebrugge, about 25 miles from Rotterdam. That is slowing down shipments and inflating costs.
"The delays add one-third to the travel time, and it costs more," said a Heineken spokeswoman.
Bottlenecks at ports aren't uncommon, but shipping executives and exporters say the Rotterdam disruption is the worst they have seen at a major port in years. In addition to being Europe's busiest, the Dutch port is the world's eighth-largest by capacity. It moves about 12 million containers annually.
Rotterdam is the main entry and distribution center for the Asia-to-Europe trade loop, the world's busiest. Shippers move millions of tons of Asian imports through the port, and European exporters use it to send many of their wares to the Far East.
Delays began in June and have centered on two of the three terminals operated by European Container Terminals, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings. One of the terminals is undergoing extensive maintenance, including the installation of new cranes and upgrades to its information-technology infrastructure. The work is reducing capacity.
European Container Terminals hasn't given shippers specific guidance on when delays may ease.
"We work hard to overcome the present problems and are making step-by-step progress, but we do not give a fixed date when the situation is completely back to normal," said ECT spokesman Rob Bagchus.
The upgrade effort coincides with an unusual boost in summer traffic. The summer months are usually the low season for container shipping, with port operators limiting staff and resources. But an upturn in some corners of the global economy has boosted container traffic. Cargo volumes—which sagged during the global economic crisis and its long aftermath—increased this summer, surprising port officials.
In an effort to cut costs, shipping lines have resorted increasingly to so-called slow steaming, or running ships at reduced speeds to save on fuel costs. The practice has made port calls more unpredictable, executives say.
In the past, if a ship was loaded late or delayed by weather, it would simply increase speed when possible to arrive in port on time. But with new pressure to save fuel, many shipowners are loath to speed up, even if that means getting into port late.
With the rise in out-of-schedule arrivals this summer, Rotterdam has had to turn back some ships and request they return later when berths are clear.
"This can create havoc," said EVO's Mr. Wisse.