Recently, freight forwarders have reported that another headache has emerged in the US market:

Bookings are shown as direct services, but once the vessel sets sail, they turn out to be transhipment via Busan.

The shipping lines involved include major carriers such as Maersk, Yang Ming Marine Transport and ONE.

To make matters worse, many containers were left behind in Busan upon arrival.

Some were delayed by a week, whilst others had to wait as long as a fortnight.

Throughout this process, the shipping lines did not proactively issue any notifications.

There were no email reminders, nor any system alerts.

Many freight forwarders only discovered that their originally direct-service containers had been diverted to Busan whilst checking the vessel’s tracking information.

Industry insiders suggest that such situations may be linked to the terms of the bill of lading.

Most shipping lines reserve the right in their bills of lading to ‘adjust the route or mode of transport according to actual circumstances’.

During peak seasons when space is tight, shipping lines often prioritise local cargo or shipments from major clients, meaning that containers subject to ad hoc rerouting are more likely to be allocated to subsequent sailings.

For shippers, the greatest impact is delays in transit times.

For freight forwarders, however, the lack of transparency is an even greater source of difficulty.

When clients believe they have booked a direct service only to find it has been rerouted via a transhipment port, the burden of explanation and communication often falls on the freight forwarder.

Industry insiders suggest that during the subsequent booking or contract negotiation process, one should confirm in advance whether there are any direct-service commitment clauses, whilst also ascertaining whether the cargo insurance coverage extends to situations such as container abandonment at transhipment ports.

Should a route change be discovered, the freight forwarder should inform the client of the situation as early as possible to minimise subsequent disputes.

As the peak season for US-bound routes gradually intensifies, it is worth keeping a close eye on whether similar situations will increase in the future.