NZ apples are among the cargo on board vessels caught up by six days of delays in the Suez Canal blockage.

NZ Apple and Pears chief executive Alan Pollard says there are NZ apples on vessels en-route to Europe that are or will be affected by delays in the canal caused by the container ship Ever Given, which became stuck but was finally freed on Monday night.

“Suez is the main trade lane for our exports to Europe and the UK,” Pollard said. 

“Some shipping lines have already rerouted vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, which means in general terms 12 to 14 days additional steaming time.”

While the reopening of the waterway is welcome news and alleviates some of the exporter’s worst fears, Pollard says there could be a flow-on effect.

“There remains considerable concern not just about these delays, but also what this might mean to the flow-on effects to vessel schedules and availability of containers to service exporters needs in our critical peak season period,” he said.

Kotahi, the country’s largest container exporter, has a small volume of freight on ships that have been delayed.

Chief executive David Ross says the cargo is on its way to North Europe, Mediterranean and North Africa via the Suez Canal.

“We are now working closely with our shipping partners to manage this as some carriers have started to route vessels via the Cape of Good Hope,” Ross said.

A Fonterra spokesperson says it does not have any product on the Ever Given or caught up in the congestion.

“We are not currently experiencing any material impact, but we are watching the situation closely and working with our shipping partner Kotahi to understand the full impact of this situation,” he said.

Charlie Pesti of US-based technology and logistics company Project44 says the issue now will shift to port congestion as the more than 300 ships delayed on either side of the Suez Canal will be needing to discharge cargo.

They will be joined by ships diverted around Africa also having cargo to unload. He says ports at Jeddah, Rotterdam and Singapore could potentially be overwhelmed with 55 vessels already anchored at Rotterdam.

Pesti estimates $118 billion worth of cargo was stuck in transit by the blocked canal.