Sursa foto: Pexels
Problems in the global supply chain have stranded ports in several countries, and the “Container Crisis” could be long term and could lead to an explosion in the prices of imported goods next spring, reports digi24.ro. Tiberiu Miclea, an experienced Romanian ship captain, believes that the blockade now is “historical” is an understatement.
“I’ve been on container ships for 17 years and I can tell you that the most dramatic situation is at the moment in Los Angeles, San Francisco, probably other ports as well. To make you understand, let’s make an analogy of that China-Hong Kong-Shenzen-Shanghai-Los Angeles-San Francisco transoceanic shipping line with a bus line, say Piața Unirii-Piața Universității-Piața Presei Libere-Mall Băneasa. Every 15 minutes, let’s say a bus should stop at each of these stops. When at Băneasa the passengers – that is, the containers – can no longer get off the bus, because there are no guides to pick them up, take them to the shops where they have business – these guides, let’s say, are the truck drivers – the next bus catches up, the passengers can no longer get off because there is no more space in front of the mall, the other bus arrives, they stay there with the doors closed. All these buses, i.e. the container ships that sit with cargo on board at sea, at anchor, in Los Angeles and other ports, generate additional costs, bottlenecks, because there is a limited place where you can store the containers, you don’t have truck drivers to take them from the port to free up space, all this generates costs,” explained skipper Tiberiu Miclea.
Asked about Christmas, whether there will be problems and whether we should do the shopping now, skipper Tiberiu Miclea said, “If you haven’t done it, I advise you to take out your credit card, run to the ATM and go shopping, because at Christmas you might come back empty-handed.”
