DP World – National Emergency Management Plan (NEMA)

November 13, 2023
|In Uncategorized
|By SilaAdmin

Dear Valued Customers & Partners,

Please be advised of the notice issued by Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) on Monday, November 13, 2023, regarding the prompt arrangement of a National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) meeting facilitated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) today represented members in an urgently convened National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) meeting facilitated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The meeting aimed to address the supply chain impacts of the DP World cyber incident,  provide situational awareness, and to discuss freight and logistics consequence management of the issues arising from the incident.

DP World Australia, represented by Garran Jones (VP Information Technology) & Brett Lynch (VP Ports, Terminals & Parks), provided an update on the situation where they confirmed previous reports that as of 9:00am AEDT, DP World had fully resumed operations.

Key update points provided by DP World : 

  • as by 8:00am AEDT DP World had seen 150 trucks through their facility and by 4:00pm AEDT had so far facilitated 2,500 container movements of the 5,000 expected for today (comparatively a normal uninterrupted day is 6,000-7,000 movements). 
  • investigations are ongoing and restoration of their systems may cause temporary disruption over the coming days and weeks as part of the restoration process.
  • work is continuing with authorities on investigating the situation whereby “some data was exfiltrated from our network“. 
  • focus is on imports as priority with delays on exports expected, but not to the extent of 2 weeks as some reports have suggested. 
  • DP World committed to providing further communication to industry via 1-Stop in the next 24hrs in relation to exports.
  • DP World expect Port Botany will be hardest hit in terms of recovery, with recovery expected to take approximately 2-3 weeks due to the outage plus the short term impacts of continued protected industrial action this week and beyond.
  • DP World committed to accommodating urgent movements for time sensitive freight with any arrangements to be made through normal avenues via respective terminal Landside Managers.

Key points to note as a result of stakeholder Q&A : 

  • Department of Agriculture (DAFF) – are introducing permanent bookings on a temporary basis at DP World to try shift backlog for Giant African Snail / Hitchhiker Pest risk inspections
  • Detention –  Shipping Australia (SAL) representative and CEO Melwyn Noronha recommended industry members reach out to shipping lines directly to request Detention relief, with SAL suggesting shipping lines would be ‘open to changes’.
  • Protected Industrial Action (PIA) – suggestions were raised for government to approach the union for relief of PIA in the interim whilst backlog is cleared, however NEMA suggested DP World would need to raise with relevant government areas should it be required. 
  • DP World Contacts – Any requests for DP World should be directed to the relevant Landside/Terminal Managers at each terminal as per usual process.
  • Government Escalation –  Avenues for escalation available through the following departments for critical needs: 
    • Department of Industry, Science & Resources (DISR) – Office of Supply Chain Resilience
    • Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) – Transport Group
    • National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)       

With DP World operations back underway, no further National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) meetings are anticipated unless a need arises.

Please note that there is still a substantial backlog in all DP World Australia terminals, which will continue to significantly impact our services, and we appreciate your understanding and flexibility during this period. Our team is committed to minimising disruptions and ensuring the smoothest operations possible. We will keep you updated on any further developments.

We acknowledge the potential impact of these disruptions; however, please be advised that SILA will not assume liability for any additional charges arising from these industrial actions.

Thank you for your continued trust and partnership and should you have any questions or concerns, kindly reach out to our dedicated team! 

SILA Imports – imports@sila.net.au
SILA Exports – exports@sila.net.au
SILA Sales – sales@sila.net.au
T: (+61) 07 3908 1690

SILA Global Pty Ltd