Ukraine war, Taiwan tensions cause balikbayan box shipment delays for Christmas —forwarders

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the recent tensions in Taiwan have caused delays in the delivery of balikbayan boxes for Christmas, the head of a group of cargo forwarders here said, explaining that shipping companies have had to reroute to other transshipment points for safety reasons. 

“Before, it used to take up to 30 days for the cargo to arrive in Manila. Now it's 45 [days],” Allan Michael Bautista, chairman of the 14-member League of Freight Forwarders (LFF), said.

Bautista said deliveries for Visayas and Mindanao could take up to 60 days.

“Marami sa mga import-export routes, nagkaloko-loko dahil sa giyera [sa Ukraine.] 'Yung mga traditional routes, may mga re-routing na nangyayari. Nagko-cause ito ng added delays dahil nagkakaroon ng choke points,” Bautista explained.

(Many import-export routes have been disarrayed because of the war [in Ukraine]. The traditional routes had to be set aside in place of re-routing the cargo ships. This in turn has been causing added delays because of the resulting choke points.)

Bautista further explained that there is no direct sea route from the Middle East to the Philippines. “There are transshipment points,” he said, adding that these are Singapore, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

“Nililiko talaga nila (shipping companies) kapag na-forecast nila na maaaring ma-endanger ang shipment and personnel,” he said.

(They really change the ship’s route whenever they see possible danger ahead.)

Tensions

Shipping companies also skipped Kaohsiung at the height of tensions between China, Taiwan and the United States following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August this year.

China said the move, which precipitated saber-rattling from all sides, was a disregard to the One China diplomatic principle, and an affront to the country’s sovereignty because Taiwan is a “breakaway province.”

Michelle Guinto, head of business development and managing director at CMG Cargo, a forex eship company, said re-routing was the only alternative.

“Pabago-bago ang transshipment port,” she said. “Kung saan maluwag in terms of security threats, doon sila pumupunta, so apektado ang arrival date sa Pilipinas,” she said.

(The transshipment ports change. The ships go where security is assured, so arrival dates [of the boxes] in the Philippines are affected.

Congestion

Making matters worse is the usual congestion at the ports during this time of the year, when shipment of care boxes, not only to the Philippines but as well elsewhere around the world, is at its peak owing to the upcoming yearend holidays.

Bautista said cargoes also have to be reloaded from big ocean vessels to smaller feeder vessels. “Mga feeder vessels lang nakakapasok sa bansa natin,” he said.

(Only feeder vessels can dock at our ports.)

Bautista said LFF advised customers to start packing their care boxes earlier so these may be picked up by forwarders soon in anticipation of the delays.

Sea cargo peak season cut-off was October for a two-month delivery lead time.

Reduction

One resulting setback is a reduction in the shipment of care boxes, Guinto said, noting that it has gone down by up to 20% this year compared with previous years.

This is primarily because customers have instead opted to send money through the banks, noting shipping issues caused by the ongoing regional conflicts, Guinto said.

“'Yung mga kliyente, imbes na magpa-cargo, nagpapadala na lang ng pera,” she said. —KG, GMA Integrated News