b'JANuARy 25 - FebRuARy 7, 2021NOrth AmericAs trANsPOrtAtiON & LOGistics NewsPAP er 15SSAS Denike: Los AngelesRotterdam Shortsea Terminals expect and Long Beach congestionBrexit to drive more trans-channel freight onto container ships in 2021will last at least until March By Stas Margonanis, AJOT By Stas Margonanis, AJOTCeesvanPelt,managertechnicaloperators from the crane cab to the RST operations, Rotterdam Shortsea Terminalsofficeforremoteoperationsclaimingit Ed Denike, president SSA Contain- a fever and cant go to work. (RST) warned that post-Brexit maritimesaves time and money and reduces injuries.ers, said that ocean carriers tell him thatDenike is hoping to work out a morecommerce between the UK and EuropeIn an interview with AJOT, van Pelt vesselcongestionatthePortsofLosefficient temperature check process withislikelytofacecongestionanddelayssaid, The first week of the Brexit shows Angeles and Long Beach is likely to con- the ILWU. during the first half of 2021 resulting, atus that container traffic, but also Ro/Ro tinue until March. least temporarily, in more Trans-Channelslowed down in the ports. The conges-Denike, who spoke to the PropellerP oRt ofo AklAnd freightbeingtransportedbycontainertion is not seen yet but we expect that to ClubofNorthernCaliforniaviaZoom,Denikenotedthatlongshorework- ships as opposed to rail and Ro/Ro (Rollcome later in January 2021 We expect explainedthatcongestiondelayshaveers at the Port of Oakland are showing upOn/Roll Off ships). thedelaysduetopaperworkdeficien-seen as many as 40 ships waiting to bewith an average of 100 less workers perIn the meantime, RST is moving tociesin25%oftheshipmentsgoingto unloadedthatamountstoa7-8[hour](DENIKEcontinued on page 17) unload some ships by moving some crane(DRIVEcontinued on page 17)wait per vessel.Theprimaryreasonisthelarge increase in container ships arriving at the two Southern California ports: There has been an unprecedented increase in con-tainer ship traffic going to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Thedelaysandback-upsofships waiting to enter the two ports comes at a time when there has been a 10% reduction in longshore workers showing up for work related to the COVID virus and a paral-lel delay unloading import containers at California warehouses due to a reduction of workers also related to the virus.H EA mPlifiEd on tHEC AuSES :COVID related illnesses seem to be causing a loss of around 700 longshore-men showing up for work per day, which is about 10% of the workforce. A related problem is that a longshore gang unload-ing and loading a vessel may not have all the skilled workers showing up for work in which case the gang cannot be dispatched.Imports that are going to the ware-housesofbeneficialcargoownersare subject to delays in unloading the import container and returning both the container and the chassis back to the terminal: The delaysareresultinginmajorshortages of equipment that the terminals need to unloadtheships.Thesearecausedby COVID illnesses at the warehouses that we have no control over.ed Denike, president SSA ContainersThese problems are likely to persist until the effect of the virus diminishes. Denike said the terminals have been work-ing with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to train more workers to reduce the shortfall caused by illness and deaths.Tohelpaddresstheproblem,the ILWU and the terminals have agreed to institute temperature checks at the gates oftheterminalsbeforeworkersenter. Denike said this was a positive outcome butbelievestemperaturechecksshould be done at the ILWU hiring hall before the workers are dispatched, so they dont go to the terminal, get tested, find they have'