A mind-blowing map of ships surrounding the Australian coast highlights the massive delays in the delivery of new cars.
The image from Drive.com.au taken from a vessel tracker shows the heavy traffic up and down the coast, as a whopping 60,000 cars sit on ships because quarantine cleaning teams can’t work fast enough.
Exotic pests, seeds, snails and the dreaded stink bug are the main culprits in a host of issues causing massive delays.
The issue is being compounded by increasing demand for new vehicles coupled with the ongoing recovery in global supply chains after the pandemic.
Drive.com.au managing editor Trent Nikolic says just 350 new cars are delivered a week, even though we’re buying more than 21,000 in that time.
“When we last checked this there were at least 24 car-carrying ships that were either in limbo or waiting to dock,” he told 2GB this week.
“These aren’t Rolls Royces, these are just general average cars the Australian families need.”
The unprecedented bottleneck has forced thousands of customers stuck in the queue to wait even longer for their new car.
A spokesman for the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry told news.com.au the vehicles were contaminated with soil, plant debris, seeds and live insects not found in Australia.
“The vehicles must be thoroughly cleaned upon arrival at Australian ports, creating a backlog of ships waiting to dock and adding to the waiting time for customers,” the spokesman said, noting the materials posed a “serious” threat to Australia’s agriculture industry and the environment.
The issues are impacting ports across the country.
Several ports are impacted with particular congestion at Melbourne Port where 12 car-carrying ships are currently waiting to be offloaded.
There are at least a further four car-carrying ships off the coast of Sydney and another four off the coast of Brisbane.
Nearly 1900 new cars are waiting to be cleaned under the biosecurity measures at the Port of Brisbane, while seven ships are anchored offshore.
Based on conservative estimates of 3000 motor vehicles per ship – carrying capacity of each vessel ranges from 3000 to 6000 cars – the east coast of Australia has at least 60,000 new cars waiting to be offloaded.
Port of Brisbane chief executive Neil Stephens told The Courier Mail logistics companies were working around the clock to move vehicles as quickly as possible.
Mr Stephens said it was a challenging time for the motor vehicle industry.
“All stakeholders at the Port of Brisbane take issues of biosecurity seriously, and while that may mean some delays on this occasion, it’s imperative we maintain the highest of standards for imported products,” Mr Stephens said.
Most new cars brands are impacted by the delays including Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Suzuki.
Toyota confirmed it had been affected by processing delays, but said none of its vehicles were found to have biosecurity risks.
A spokesman for Qube, a stevedoring, freight and logistics operator, said they believed the contamination concerns were because vehicles have been stored in paddocks and fields in overseas load ports during the height of Covid.
“In accordance with Australia’s strict biosecurity rules, this unprecedented number of contaminated vehicles have to be thoroughly cleaned of biosecurity hazards on arrival and this has caused unavoidable issues across the supply chain, from the port to importers and ultimately consumers,” the spokesman told news.com.au.
It comes as Australians are increasingly turning to Chinese-made cars as Aussie manufacturers use Covid-related supply issues to push up their prices.
Those looking to purchase a new car face months of uncertainty and high prices — a toxic mix for Aussies already doing it due rising interest rates and skyrocketing rental prices.
carla.mascarenhas@news.com.au