Diversion of goods to international ports and suspension of reservations are among the consequences of the blockades that worry the guild of shipping agencies.
The National Association of Shipping Agents (Asonav), a guild of shipping agencies, spoke about the public order crisis that the country is going through, especially the difficulties that have occurred in the operation in the port of Buenaventura.
After a month of blockades, through a statement, Asonav explained that “the different port terminals of Buenaventura have been suffering the consequences of not being able to evacuate the import cargo that is received daily from abroad, nor being able to receive the export cargo that agriculture and national industry produce for international markets and are a fundamental part of the country’s trade balance ”.
The association highlighted that given the impossibility of scheduled ships to dock in Buenaventura “it has made it necessary for several shipping lines to divert their ships to alternate international ports, unloading the cargo destined for Buenaventura there.”
He added that “to the extent of their possibilities, the shipping lines and maritime agencies gathered in Asonav have continued to provide their services in Colombia and have decisively supported options such as the transport of dammed cargo in Buenaventura to the Colombian Atlantic coast, making use of the figures of cabotage and the reloading of goods, thereby seeking to alleviate the situation of the port ”.
And although they say that there has been expectation for the “humanitarian caravans promoted by the national government”, the union assures that “these efforts are insufficient compared to the volumes of accumulated cargo and do not constitute the definitive solution that this problem requires”. Therefore, the union warns that as long as order and mobility are not restored, “the port of Buenaventura will not be able to recover normalcy.”
The union recalled that on May 7, the Aguadulce Industrial Port Society (SPIA), “one of the three main general cargo ports in Buenaventura, declared the events of force majeure regarding the services provided by that port company, leaving with This is to attend to new ships, while the Container Terminal (TCBUEN) “will stop serving ships as of today (May 31).”
As for the Regional Port Society, Asonav explains that “it has been making immense efforts to continue offering its services, moving cargo to alternate yards and precincts, but its high occupancy has led to it not being able to serve all the announced ships. As a consequence of the above, seven motor ships have had to cancel their landfall, five have had to operate with limitations and eight motor ships are waiting for a dock to unload, which according to the Harbor Master represents an impact on 24% of the ships arrived at the port in the last month ”.
Finally, he mentioned that due to the uncertainty, several lines have “had to temporarily suspend their cargo reserves to Buenaventura, since it does not make sense to continue feeding a cargo flow to a port that is not able to serve shipping services.”
Asonav called for “dialogue between the parties and the immediate solution of the road blockades that have been affecting productive activities and the right to mobility, impacting foreign trade,” which had already been impacted by the pandemic, then by the blockade on the canal. Suez and now, in the Colombian context, because of the public order situation.
