The conflict continues to escalate! Freight is affected! Shipping company's latest announcement

Shaoul, executive chairman of the Board of Directors of Ashdod Port, said that the Israeli port of Ashdod, one of the country's largest ports and an important asset to the national economy, continues to operate normally despite the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. But as the conflict widens there could be potential risks, the backlog of ships in Israeli ports is growing and war insurance rates are soaring.

While most terminals continue to operate, the backlog of ships in Israeli ports is growing, notably as Israel faces heavy rocket fire, including in the south of the country, which has prompted the closure of Ashkeron Port, the closest port to Gaza. In addition, the port of Ashdod has imposed restrictions on the transportation of dangerous goods, which means that transportation has been affected.

However, the impact of the conflict on container freight rates in and out of Israeli ports remains significant. Shaur, executive chairman of the Board of Directors of Ashdod Port Corporation, estimated the likely trend of container rates at the port. It believes that shipping companies will not increase rates in Ashdod and so far have not seen any rate increases, surcharges or additional charges. However, it expressed concern about the possible increase in insurance costs.

South Korean shipping company HMM has already announced the imposition of a War risk surcharge (WRS) on Israeli cargo in a customer consultation on October 18.

"Due to increased costs due to deteriorating conditions to and from Israel, customers must be informed that I will immediately implement WRS for all types of containers in order to maintain service to and from Israel," HMM said in the announcement.

HMM's WRS, effective immediately until further notice, are as follows:

Israeli container shipping company ZIM also announced additional charges. "In light of the war situation, the insurance company imposes an additional war risk premium on all ships calling at Israeli ports, which we are now obliged to pay in order to maintain services to and from Israel," the company said in its latest notice.

Israel Star has decided to implement the following new War Risk Premium (WRP) for shipments to and from Israel, effective October 12.

Recently, Evergreen Marine announced that its 1778TEU"Ever Cosy" ship suffered force majeure, unable to dock at the port of Ashdod, Israel, as planned, and diverted to Haifa. The company said the situation was beyond its control and that all shipments to Ashdod had been unloaded in Haifa, adding: "Thereafter, the main contract of carriage is deemed terminated and all liability of the carrier terminates." (Port of Israel, shipping company declares Force majeure)

Maersk said in its latest announcement that it is currently accepting bookings to and from Israel. However, for dangerous goods, both the Port of Haifa and the Port of Ashdod impose restrictions on specific items. Maersk said it would waive the change of destination (COD) fee as well as the Detention and Demurrage fees that were suspended at all ports in Israel until November 8.

MSC Mediterranean Shipping's latest announcement said that for now, Israel's major ports continue to operate, including the main terminals in Ashdod and Haifa, but due to increased security checks and labor shortages, Ashdod is currently experiencing congestion, resulting in increased wait times.

Accordingly, bookings to and from Israel will continue to be accepted, and cargo already booked to and from the country will be serviced as scheduled. However, certain dangerous goods (DG) cannot be released at the Port of Ashdod, so dangerous goods cannot be booked at this time. If the affected cargo is already in transit, contingency plans will be put in place to unload at other ports and customers will be kept informed of any changes in the destination of their cargo. In addition, Hapag-Lloyd's official website recently announced that in view of the situation in Israel, for Ashdod and Haifa, the port has implemented restrictions on the reception of dangerous goods, so Hapag-Lloyd no longer accepts dangerous goods booking from and to Ashdod and Haifa.