Regional hub reliance exposes vulnerable supply chain

As Christmas approaches, businesses are grappling with delayed shipments caused by logistical bottlenecks at major regional ports in Jamaica and Trinidad, heightening concerns over holiday retail readiness.

Nikita Abed-Caplen, brand director at fabric and home decor store Abed’s, voiced concern about the issues affecting businesses in an interview with Barbados TODAY.

According to Abed-Caplen, Barbados relies on regional transhipment hubs like Jamaica and Trinidad to handle large container ships that cannot dock directly at the island’s smaller port. “Our port is not big enough to handle one of these big boats that have a thousand containers. Two of the ports that they use frequently to take the goods off and repack them onto smaller boats are Trinidad and Jamaica,” she explained.

This year, those hubs have faced significant challenges. “We’ve had goods sitting in Jamaica’s port for weeks—one shipment for sure has been there over a month—before they get repacked onto a smaller boat to come to Barbados. Then there have also been issues with Trinidad’s port, as their port staff are on strike,” she added.

Abed-Caplen revealed that the disruption has caused some vessels to avoid Trinidad entirely, further straining the system.

“I’ve heard horror stories where boats are literally not even stopping in Trinidad. Obviously, Trinidad is closer to Barbados, so they literally go around and stop at any other island.”

Despite these challenges, she was pleased to report that most of her company’s holiday shipments had arrived, with only two containers still delayed. “There are two containers that I think are outstanding for us for Christmas. Apart from that, all of our goods are here.”

When asked if businesses are exploring alternative shipping routes, Abed-Caplen highlighted the inherent limitations.

“These boat routes are set. If a boat is going there and our port can’t take it, we have no real choice. The problem is that even our service providers, once we’ve booked a container and it gets taken off in Jamaica, our local agents can’t get the Jamaican port people to put it back on a boat.”

Renatta Mohammed, general manager of home goods store Standard, acknowledged similar delays but noted that the situation has since been resolved.

“Our sole delay was as a result of a shipment being routed via Jamaica,” she explained, adding that the delay lasted “just shy of one full month.”

Anthony Branker, the head of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce’s retail and distribution committee, said these shipping challenges have plagued the region for years.

Branker explained: “We don’t have bigger vessels coming to us, and because the volumes have increased, there’s obviously a greater demand for the space on the ships. Therefore, there are—and will continue to be—instances where cargo will be left behind.”

He also pointed to challenges with accessing containers for outgoing shipments. “There are issues getting empty boxes to load your stuff into and ship it to Barbados. Regrettably, because we can’t demand larger vessels in this region, we will continue to face these challenges, particularly as volumes increase during peak seasons.”

Branker urged firms to mitigate these delays by planning their shipments earlier.

“Businesses should be mature enough by now to know that they should try to avoid landing cargo in Barbados during the peak season, especially in the month of December,” he said, adding: “You can order earlier and you can order more.”

louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb