IAPH published the IAPH-WPSP Port Economic Impact Barometer One Year Report. This survey-based analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on ports in the period April 2020 to April 2021 aims to reflect what has happened at these global cargo and passenger maritime hubs.
Vessel calls
Blank sailings, mainly on trade routes with the Far East, heavily affected the weekly results for container vessels throughout the first half of the survey period. In the period between early April and mid-July 2020 between 40% and just over 50% of all respondents indicated that container vessel calls were down by more than 5%. However, the situation improved considerably by September 2020 (week 36) to reach a much lower 28%. In April 2021, some 29% of the ports report that the number of container vessel calls fell by more than 5% compared to a normal situation.
The share of ports reporting reductions in other cargo vessel calls of more than 25% gradually decreased from 16% in week 21 to 4% in week 25, which is also far below the 12 to 15% observed throughout weeks 16 to 20. However, in weeks 27 and 29 the figure was up again to reach 9%. Since September 2020, the figure has been consistently around 4 to 6%. Globally, some 55% of the ports are now reporting that the number of calls by other cargo vessels is relatively stable compared to a normal situation, one of the highest figures so far. About 15% of ports even point to an increase in other cargo vessel calls. Thus, the overall evolution since September 2020 has been a positive one, with only a small minority of all ports reporting reductions in other cargo vessel calls of more than 25%.
In addition, In the first Barometer report of early April 2020, nearly 7 out of 10 ports with inland barge operations reported no extra delays during the past week due to changes in call procedures (e.g. hygiene inspections, distancing of workforce, disruption of port or related services), while some 2 out of 10 ports reported minor delays (longer than 6 hours). For container vessels and other cargo vessels, more than 90% of the ports indicated zero or only minor delays. Also here, the worst situation was found in the passenger sector: 40% of the ports discontinued this type of operation, while nearly half of the ports reported no additional delays.
Crew changes
On a global scale, 44% of ports that provided information on crew changes reported no crew changes had taken place in week 6 of 2021, down from 55% in week 27. In a quarter of ports, a very limited number of crew changes have occurred (less than 5) compared to one third in week 27.
When comparing regions, European ports continue to show the best picture in terms of the crew change situation. In North America, crew changes remain at a low level, with 50% of ports indicating there have not been
any crew changes in week 6 of 2021. This figure is comparable to the 57% in week 27.
Overall, the crew change situation remains more precarious in the Americas compared to Europe.
see more information in iaph’s port economic impact barometer
