Cape Donington V.01ES11 - Delayed Arrival in Australian Ports

17th January 2011
 

Dear Valued Customers,

We regret to advise that the arrival of the Cape Donington in Brisbane as the first port of call on the Australian coast is further delayed causing flow-on effects on the subsequent port calls. The latest estimated time of arrival in Brisbane is now the 24th January 2011.

Although the majority of the delay has been caused by a wayport parcel from Hong Kong to New Caledonia, a number of unexpected weather related factors have contributed to the late arrival, including poor weather conditions after the vessel’s departure from Asia southbound (forcing vessel’s Command to deviate for cargo care and safety reasons), subsequently encountering berth congestion in New Caledonia after the Christmas and New Year holidays and finally taking action to avoid two successive cyclones in the South Pacific region which affected all ship movements in the area.

Following the flood disaster the Brisbane Port had been closed since Wednesday 12th January and port operations are successively being recommenced from today with essential shipping activities given priority. Some congestion must be expected as a result of the backlog but we hope that operations are back to normal when the Cape Donington arrives on the 24th January.

The updated schedule for the subsequent ports during this coastal rotation is as follows:

 Newcastle 30 January
 Melbourne 03 February
 Port Kembla 08 February

Our strong focus for 2011 is to ensure that we are performing to schedule and offer a reliable service. Clearly, that has not been achieved on this occasion, even though the reasons were beyond our control. We have therefore decided we will no longer accept such cargo into New Caledonia in the future.

Once again, we regret any inconvenience this delay may have caused you. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to your continued support.

Sincerely,

Christophe Grammare
General Manager - Australia East Coast Service