Press Release 10 Mar 2015

Contargo expects delays in the processing of barges to con-tinue

Zwijndrecht and Antwerp, 11 March 2015: Since January, Contargo has recorded increasingly long processing times for barges in the seaports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Since then substantial additional costs have arisen for the container service provider, due to the great volume of containers and capacity bottlenecks at individual terminals.

In Rotterdam barges are having to wait up to 92 hours for processing, and in Antwerp there are also waiting times of up to 72 hours. Another aggravating factor is that information about the delays is not reliably communicated, so that it is very difficult to predict how long the vessels will have to remain in port. As the situation has been getting more acute again since the beginning of the year, considerable costs have already arisen for Contargo: firstly, because the charter costs have increased due to the longer times spent in the seaports; secondly, because Contargo has to hire additional tonnage in order to bridge the waiting times of the vessels; and thirdly, because customers are transferring to other transport modes, since under these circumstances the acceptance and delivery dates for containers can no longer be guaranteed.

In the spring and summer of 2014, there were bad bottlenecks in Rotterdam for five months, and many transport services reacted by charging Contargo a delay surcharge.

Increasing numbers of containers, and the usual personnel shortages during the summer months, make it unlikely that the situation will improve in the short term. If there is no improvement, Contargo apparently sees no alternative to introducing a Congestion Surcharge

About Contargo
With an annual transport volume of 2 million TEU, Contargo is one of the largest container logistics networks in Europe. Contargo integrates container transport between the western seaports, the German North Sea ports and the European hinterland. The enterprise has 25 container terminals at its disposal in Germany, France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic and maintains offices at seven additional locations in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Japan. Contargo also operates its own barge and rail lines. In 2014 the workforce of 800 employees achieved a turnover of 410 million Euro. Further information is available at: www.contargo.net.

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