Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Customer Advisory April 25, 2018 CA-18-04/

Transcription

1 Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Customer Advisory April 25, 2018 CA-18-04/ Subject: Impacts of Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr on CENTCOM AOR Cargo Shipments Purpose: To inform the shipping community of the disruption of cargo movement expected to occur during Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr Holiday. Be Advised: GENERAL INFORMATION: Ramadan, the Muslim Holy Month of Fasting, will tentatively begin at sundown on 16 May 18 and end on 14 Jun 18. The actual dates depend upon the time of the official sighting of the new moon. Note that the exact dates of Islamic holidays cannot be determined in advance, due to the nature of the Islamic lunar calendar. Estimates are based on expected visibility of the hilal (waxing crescent moon following a new moon) and may vary according to location. Eid Al Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan, is celebrated for 3-4 days. The actual dates may vary in each country depending on the region. Movement of cargo will continue during Ramadan at a lower velocity due to reduced working hours, reduced staff and meal and prayer breaks. Cargo movement will stop during Eid due to Customs Office and Border Closures in CENTCOM AOR. IMPACT ON CENTCOM AOR: PAKISTAN (PAK GLOC) Ramadan: Karachi/Qasim ports, Customs/Government of Pakistan (GOP) offices will observe reduced office hours during Ramadan. Port operations will continue during Ramadan as most of the movements take place at night from port. Terminal operations will continue from 0800 to 1700 and shall again resume after 2000 till Stevedore s operations will be continued from 0800 till 1400 thereafter till 1600 operations will continue and overtime will be charged. Iftar break will be from 1600 till Stevedoring will then resume from 2000 till 12 midnight and shall continue with overtime till At least one week prior to the Eid, movement will be slower as the truck drivers will start going to their hometown far away from main cities. Therefore any cargo enroute will be staged at the secured holding yards. Dispatches from Karachi and Qasim ports will be on hold to avoid cargo from being stranded on the route, border

2 and in Afghanistan during the Eid holiday. By the end of Ramadan there is a possibility of congestion at ports. Eid Al Fitr: Customs offices will be closed for at least three days. Port operations are closed only for Eid. Carriers and transporters normally stop movements from port at least one week prior to Eid as most of the drivers take leave for Eid holiday. Custom staff and truck drivers go to their homeland/native towns prior to official Eid holiday and resume work 2-3 days after the holiday. Therefore there will be an anticipated shortage of trucks a week before and after Eid holiday. Cargo that arrives during the holiday period will be staged at ports and moved after the holiday. Cargo en-route during the holiday will be staged at the nearest secured carrier holding yards (CHY). Dispatches of import cargo from the port will resume one week after Eid. AFGHANISTAN Ramadan: Afghan government will only be working half days. Employees will come in in the morning and office will close at US Embassy Kabul will be working normal hours during Ramadan, however it is expected that work will slow down. Export cargo will be dispatched as soon as the trucks are able to get on base. For Import cargo, there may be some delays in-gating depending on security issues at that time. There should not be any delays with Prime Vendor cargo moving to Anham in Bagram but can be held in a secured yard/chy if needed or if requested by Anham. Eid Al Fitr: Afghan government will be completely closed down. United States Embassy Kabul will be closed during the Eid holiday. Cargo en-route will be staged at CHYs. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE) Ramadan: Working hours for government offices will end around 1200/1300. Ministry of Defense (MOD) approval may be slightly delayed during this period. During the day, there are extended meal and prayer breaks. At the same time, these are the peak summer months with excessive heat all around. However no major impact expected on the import/export cargo, port, customs and trucking continues. 2

3 Eid Al Fitr: All local Government and private organizations are closed for three days (which may get extended if adjoined with weekend). There will be no operations in Dubai for the first day of Eid. The exact date is subject to the moon sighting. Other than that, there won't be any issues dispatching containers from the port to the airport or cold storage facility in Dubai. Port operations (marine and terminal yard) are closed for 4 hours (for prayers) on the first day of Eid holiday, but otherwise fully operational at all other times. KUWAIT Ramadan: The container movement for delivery is a little slower than the normal working day but the port is also working two shifts to minimize the overall impact. There is no significant delay anticipated in the cargo movement or paperwork return (for customs submission). Customs clearance can be processed if the documentation for customs clearance is received at least 72hours prior to vessel arrival. Even if there is a minor delay from the Kuwait Ahmadi Customs office, it should not significantly delay cargo movement or the processing of AK- 302/LAMANA customs documents. Eid Al Fitr: Cargo delivery and empty acceptance remain closed for 3-4 days subject to holiday declared by the government. No major impact on import cargo expected. The cargo that arrives during the holiday will be staged at the ports. The deliveries to base camps are arranged in coordination with both parties i.e., transport and camp. IRAQ Ramadan: Customs clearance will be very slow due to reduced working hours. Delays in clearance and port operations are expected. Port operations will be continuous during Ramadan. By the end of Ramadan, there is a possibility of congestion at ports. Eid Al Fitr: Customs and local government offices will be completely closed. JORDAN Ramadan: The hours of operations for the Government of Jordan offices including Jordanian Armed Forces General Headquarters will be reduced to during Ramadan. International Affairs approvals and customs will be delayed during this time period. Port operations will be continuous during Ramadan with a one hour break for Al Sahour and Iftar. The Umari border crossing hours of operations will be reduced from during this period. Delays are expected to occur at all transportation nodes. 3

4 Eid Al Fitr: The Government of Jordan offices including Jordanian Armed Forces General Headquarters will be closed for four days during the Eid Al Fitr holiday. All commercial port operations will stop on the first day and resume normal hours the following day. Aqaba Container Terminal will stop operations on the first day from 0400 to 1100 and resume normal operations thereafter. BAHRAIN Ramadan: Port will be operational on 24/7 basis. Hence, quay side operations will not be affected during the Holy month of Ramadan. Gate operations could be impacted due to reduced working hours by customs for inspection of cargo. Delays in handling export bookings is not foreseen. Eid Al Fitr: Customs and Government offices will be closed for Eid holiday. Reduced number of staff available to attend to urgent issues. QATAR Ramadan: Customs clearance forms processing will increase from 30 days to 45 days, and in certain situations, 60 days. Eid Al Fitr: Work process drops off drastically during the week before Eid holiday. During the Eid holiday, no Government actions will occur. The week following Eid holiday, the workloads and processing will begin to slowly return to normal. SAUDI ARABIA Ramadan: All government agencies are expected to close for two weeks. This will hinder all customs requests that will need to be submitted or that are already pending in the system. Eid Al Fitr: Port and Customs will be closed on Eid. Export cargo will be on hold during Eid holiday. Import cargo will be offloaded and placed into a staging area until after Eid holiday. OMAN Ramadan: Ramadan will have minimal impact. Customs clearance request must be submitted early in the morning as most employees will take off around 1300 during Ramadan. Eid Al Fitr: Offices will shut down for about a week. EGYPT 4

5 Ramadan: Anticipate minimal impact due to reduced schedules and observed reduced office hours. Eid Al Fitr: Customs will be closed during Eid holiday. 595 th Trans Bde POCs: OCCASWA Chief: Comm , DSN , OCCASWA QA: Comm /6636/6638, DSN /6636/6638, Expiration: 31 July