by Priya Radünzel, SeaNewsEditor
- Stay ahead of supply chain disruptions and port congestion with Kuehne+Nagel’s weekly port operational update.
- Find out the latest vessel waiting times and status of ports in Middle East Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and South and Central America.
Africa
Mozambique
Beira: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is around 2 days, but ships can wait up to 15 days.
Maputo: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is 0 days; however, due to congestion, ships can wait up to 4 days for a berth.
South Africa
Maersk reports "much-improved" operations at South African ports and fully operational rail services. Waiting times have been reduced this week in Durban to 1 day. In Cape Town, the windy season has interrupted port operations, resulting in increased time at anchor for vessels calling the Western Cape.
Asia Oceania
China
As the above table references, vessel waiting time has improved this week in Shanghai, Shekou, and Yantian. The number of waiting ships in the Yantian-Hong Kong area has reduced from 116 last week to 40. Carriers expect further improvements to Shekou waiting times in the coming week.
Construction in Ningbo and weather closures have resulted in a slight increase in waiting time. On the other hand, vessels calling Shanghai had slightly shorter waiting times on average. Currently, 82 vessels are at the anchorage area for these two ports, down from 89 last week.
Philippines
Manila: The 7-day average vessel waiting time for Manila terminals is around 3.32 days. On-window vessels can wait between 1 and 3 days. Off-window, vessels wait 2-4 days. The majority of vessels arrive off-window due to delays at previous ports resulting in vessel bunching.
Europe
Belgium
Antwerp: A mass nationwide protest involving several trade unions is taking place on 13 February. While the strike will not directly impact the Port of Antwerp, some disruptions are anticipated, particularly in lock operations and among the tugboat personnel at the port. Read more
France
Strike actions continued at all French ports this week, with four-hour stoppages on February 10, 12, and 14. For the coming week, four-hour stoppages are planned for February 18 and 19. An additional 48-hour strike was announced but not fully confirmed for February 27- 28. As a result of these stoppages and strikes, congestion has increased at terminals.
Germany
Hamburg: Berth utilisation is high at both CTA and CTB. At CTA, berth space is reduced due to construction, which can cause occasional vessel bunching and delays. Export deliveries are restricted to vessel ETA. Carriers report some labour shortages at CTB. Ongoing crane repairs, shunting issues, train delays, and high cargo volumes at the Port of Hamburg are causing processing delays at the Eurokombi terminal.
Greece
Piraeus: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is around 2.35 days due to berth congestion. At the time of publishing there were 11 vessels at anchor.
Italy
Genoa: The terminal continues to experience congestion due to previous adverse weather conditions. PSAGP will now permit only one vessel per service to berth at a time.
La Spezia: Starting 20 January, the Port of La Spezia will undergo maintenance, leading to a partial closure. Only one of the two main docks will remain operational, which is expected to impact port services. Despite this, operations will continue without interruption, though discharge congestion is anticipated due to the reduced operational capacity.
Netherlands
Rotterdam:
- ECT: The terminal has a full berthing line-up. Yard capacity has reached critical levels, which is impacting productivity. The labour shortage continues this week. Hapag-Lloyd reports delays to barges of 0-12 hours and 24-48 hours for feeders.
- RWG: The terminal has a full berthing line-up, and the yard capacity is over 80%. The terminal has stopped accepting empty containers.
- DELTA II: Carriers report lower productivity (around 50%) at the terminal after strike action. The slow-down in vessel operations has prolonged port stays and disrupted sailing schedules. According to Hapag-Lloyd, the situation remains dynamic and further strikes cannot be ruled out yet. Read more
Middle East - Indian Subcontinent
Bangladesh
Chittagong: Port operations have returned to normal in Bangladesh since last week's truckers' strike. The backlog of cargo and vessels is now being worked on. According to seaexplorer, 13 vessels are currently at anchor.
North America
Canada
Severe winter weather this week has delayed or restricted rail movements for parts of the Canadian rail network. For safety reasons, train lengths are shortened which then leads to challenges in keeping volumes flowing. The heavy snow and ice are expected to last until the end of this week. An increase in rail dwell times can be expected.
Average import rail dwell time for Canadian cargo (Vessel arrival to departure rail ramp):
- Halifax: 16 days
- Montreal: 9 days
- Prince Rupert: 10 days
- Saint John: 11 days
- Vancouver: 13 days
Mexico
Altamira: Truck/rail appointments require 48 hours.
Lazaro Cardenas: Intermodal availability is limited due to high volumes, but the situation has improved over the last weeks. Truck assignments require 48 hours for imports, while rail assignments require 72 hours.
Manzanillo: Higher import volumes compared to export volumes limit truck availability. Truck assignments take 48-96 hours, and rail import and export assignments require 96 hours.
Progreso: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is around 4 days. Terminal appointments require 48 hours' notice.
Veracruz: High export demand and truck shortages are causing road movements to be delayed. Truck assignments for exports require 72-96 hours, and truck/rail assignments for imports require 48 hours.
USA
Savannah: The vessel waiting time has increased slightly again this week to almost 5 days. The port is still recovering from the effects of weather closures three weeks ago, which lasted for 4 days, and recent fog closures lasting 40 hours. According to seaexplorer, there are currently 18 vessels at anchor. The port expects the number of waiting vessels to reduce to less than 10 by the end of the month.
Average import rail dwell and transit time for US cargo (Vessel discharge to destination ramp):
- Montreal: 9 days
- Prince Rupert: 17 days
- Vancouver: 11 days
- Charleston: 5 days
- Houston: 13 days
- Los Angeles: 13 days
- Long Beach: 13 days
- New York: 8 days
- Norfolk: 7 days
- Savannah: 4 days
South and Central America
El Salvador
Acajutla: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is around 10.5 days due to high berth occupancy.
Honduras
Puerto Cortes: The average vessel waiting time is around 1.67 days, but some can wait up to 7 days. Delays are currently due to congestion, severe weather conditions, and labour shortages.
Peru
Callao: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is around 4 days. The port is heavily congested due to the peak season, resulting in more than 8 hours of waiting at the gate. Reefer truckers are in high demand to Paracas, Salaverry and Paita ports. There is a general truck shortage in Lima and Callao, with no solution foreseen in the short or medium term.
How Kuehne+Nagel calculates the 7-day average vessel waiting time
Mainline container vessels may spend a certain number of days waiting at designated anchorage areas before their scheduled port call.
To calculate the 7-day average waiting time, we consider the waiting days of these vessels, excluding:
- Waiting times for feeder vessels,
- Idle ships without an announced next port,
- Slow steamers heading toward the anchorage but not actively waiting within the designated area
- Vessels passing through the anchorage area without intending to call at the port.
This rolling average is based on the data from the last seven days and is updated daily in seaexplorer.
To find the latest waiting time for a port, enter the port name or code in the search bar and select the relevant option.
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Port operational updates from around the world (30 January - 5 February)
