Rough Weather Strikes in South Africa, Impacting Vessel Traffic
Stormy weather off the South African coast temporarily suspended vessel movements, worsening supply chain delays that have already been impacted due to diversions around the Red Sea.
According to the weather team at the London Stock Exchange Group, the powerful cyclone that swept through the region, likely influenced by unusually low temperatures, generated the high waves that occurred.
Additionally, CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin encountered unexpectedly severe weather off the South African coast on Tuesday, resulting in the loss of 44 containers overboard. This has impacted sailing schedules due to the extreme weather conditions.
Gemini Alliance Start Date Paused Due to FMC Seeking More Information From the Parties
Originally set to go into effect Monday, July 15th, the Gemini Cooperation is being halted due to the FMC seeking more details on the alliance’s potential competitive impacts. No specific details of the FMC’s additional request for more information has been released due to its commercially sensitive nature.
In their July 12th press release, the FMC stated they would reconsider the commencement of the Maersk-Hapag-Lloyd operational alliance, but the FMC needs to receive a fully compliant response to their request.
Next steps –
After the FMC receives responses from the appropriate parties, they will have 45 days to review the agreement before it becomes effective. There will also be a 15-day public comment period opening this week in the Federal Register.
Maersk is not expecting any issues to this, they mentioned to Supply Chain Dive that it’s a fairly standard FMC practice.