At VIDA Living, we pride ourselves on reliability, quality, and delivering excellence to our customers. However, over the past several months, like many businesses worldwide, we’ve been significantly impacted by ongoing global shipping delays. These challenges have affected our ability to fulfill orders as swiftly as we—and you—expect, and we want to take a moment to explain what’s happening behind the scenes.
What’s Causing the Delays?
International shipping is currently facing a perfect storm of disruptions that are outside of our control. The situation is fluid and ever-changing, but here are the key culprits:
- Port Congestion: As of April 2025, container dwell times at key ports like Rotterdam have surged to over 9 days—nearly double the norm. Vessels are facing delays of up to 7 days for berthing, as terminals operate at over 80% capacity. These disruptions are creating a ripple effect across the European supply chain.
- Weather Disruptions: Severe weather across Europe has temporarily halted port operations, leading to missed schedules and longer delivery timelines.
- Industrial Action & Slow Operations: Strikes and labour inefficiencies have further hindered port activities, slowing down both cargo handling and vessel turnaround.
- High Cargo Volumes: As global trade ramps up, ports are struggling to process the sheer volume of containers, causing significant delays.
- Cargo Diversions: To avoid the most congested ports, vessels are often rerouted to alternative locations—adding time and logistical complexity to their journeys.
These European delays, in turn, are impacting operations here at home. Dublin Port has experienced knock-on effects, including congestion and limited berthing availability, further slowing the movement of goods.
How VIDA Living Is Responding
While many of these disruptions are beyond our control, please know that our team is working to manage this situation with diligence and transparency.
- Proactive Freight Monitoring: We’re in daily contact with our freight forwarders and track each shipment closely. Our logistics team receives daily updates and reviews the latest ETA reports to keep our systems accurate and our teams informed.
- Internal Communication: Our warehouse teams are briefed each day with updated delivery schedules, allowing us to adjust plans and prioritise orders as effectively as possible.
We understand how disruptive these delays can be, especially when you’re relying on timely deliveries to meet your own commitments. Please rest assured—your trust means everything to us. We are actively working to minimise the impact wherever possible and remain fully committed to supporting your business throughout this period. Thank you for your continued partnership, patience, and understanding.
If you have any questions or need assistance with specific orders, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Sales Support Team member.
