Congestion swept the world, 116 ports reported congestion and 328 ships were affected!
Port congestion has spread to the world, and more and more container ships are waiting for berths.
According to data released by Seaexplorer, a container transportation platform created by logistics giant Dexun, the current pressure on container ports is huge.
As of 3:20 pm on July 21, Singapore time, there are 328 ships worldwide waiting for berths in front of ports, and 116 ports have reported problems such as congestion.
Data from the Seaexplorer platform a month ago showed that 304 ships were waiting in front of the port and 101 ports reported congestion.
In the past month, as the backlog of cargo at Yantian Port has been dispatched one after another, one of the important notable changes is that the number of ships waiting outside Singapore, a large Asian transshipment port, and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in the United States has doubled. And major European commercial hubs such as Hamburg, Liverpool and Rotterdam are also experiencing congestion and delays.
At the end of May, Yantian Port suffered a new crown epidemic, which caused some terminals to suspend operations for 4 weeks. In recent weeks, due to the rampant COVID-19 pandemic, ports in many other countries or regions have also faced tremendous pressure. As reported by Souhang.com yesterday, starting from last Sunday, southern Vietnam has been blocked, and more and more ships are waiting outside the port.
Drury’s consultant warned in a recent report: “If you take into account the recent interruption of Yantian Port, port congestion and rising freight rates may become an important theme in the first half of 2022. Although the possibility of another blockage of the Suez Canal is very high. However, the risk of further outbreaks of the new crown epidemic in major ports is always there, especially considering the epidemic of new crown virus variants."
According to data released by Clarkson on Friday, the share of the total capacity of port container ships has increased from an average of 29.2% in 2016 to 31.8% in early 2020, and has reached 33% as of April this year. This will absorb an additional 2.5% of the fleet capacity, or 600,000 TEU, which is equivalent to the total capacity of the entire fleet of Yangming Shipping, the world's ninth largest liner company.
Lars Jensen, the founder of Vespucci Maritime, a container consultancy, estimated earlier this month that up to 10% of global shipping capacity was consumed due to port congestion.
Port performance data from IHS Markit shows that as of May this year, the waiting time for container ships to berth has more than doubled compared to 2019. The situation in North America has deteriorated the most. In May 2021, the average anchoring time of ships was 33 hours, while the average anchoring time in May 2019 was only 8 hours.
Data for June and July are not yet available, but after the near shutdown of Yantian Port and many railroad disruptions in North America and Europe, the data may show that the situation is getting worse.
Turloch Mooney, deputy director of maritime and trade at IHS Markit, said: “It is worrying to see that the situation has not improved. The reliability of the shipping schedule is still far below the level before the epidemic. Considering the rapid growth of freight volume, many terminals are operating at full capacity, As well as the continuing problem of container repositioning, it is difficult to see a substantial improvement in the situation in the short term."
