Stay ahead of supply chain disruptions and port congestion with Kuehne+Nagel’s weekly port operational update.
Middle East Africa
Cameroon
Douala: The average waiting time for a berth increased to more than 4 days this week. Four vessels were at anchor at the time of publication.
Saudi Arabia
Dammam: Vessel waiting times have increased to more than 6 days this week. A large percentage of Jeddah cargo is diverted to Dammam, resulting in congestion and delays. Off-window vessels are impacting the berthing lineup. Six ships were waiting at anchor at the time of publication.
South Africa
Cape Town: Dense fog and equipment breakdowns limited port operations late last week. Kuehne+Nagel reports an 8-12 days delay from outer anchorage to discharge.
Coega: Adverse weather and equipment breakdowns reduced productivity at the port last week. Kuehne+Nagel reports a 6-8 days delay from outer anchorage to discharge.
Durban: Strong winds and high swells challenged operations last week. Kuehne+Nagel reports a 14-20 days delay from outer anchorage to discharge.
Tanzania
Dar es Salaam: The average vessel waiting time has reduced to around 6 days this week from 9 days last week. Five vessels were waiting for a berth at the time of publication.
UAE
Jebel Ali: Carriers report berthing delays of 2-4 days at T4 due to vessel bunching, high yard occupancy and limited equipment. Limitations to inter-terminal transfers are adding to delays.
Asia Pacific
Bangladesh
Chittagong: The port was officially closed from 16-18 June due to a public holiday. Berth congestion has resulted in feeders facing a 2-day delay.
China
Ningbo: Due to berth congestion, vessels can wait up to two days in Ningbo. In addition, ships departing Ningbo are delayed by two days against proforma schedules. The port was closed for 34 hours on 11-12 June due to dense fog.
Shanghai: At Shanghai WGQ, the average vessel waiting time is around 2-2.5 days (especially WGQ4 & WGQ5) due to berth congestion. At Shanghai YS, waiting time is about 3 days on average due to berth congestion/vessel bunching. Vessels are departing Shanghai with a 3~5 day delay against proforma schedules. Terminal gates are operating fluidly, and there are no disruptions for gate-ins of exports.
India
Kuehne+Nagel reports equipment shortages, including reefer and special equipment across the sub-continent.
North-West India
Terminals in Nhava Sheva operate with average productivity, as individual terminals undergo routine maintenance. This has led to a maximum of two days of delay in moving containers to container freight stations.
Blank sailings are causing long queues for container gate-ins since Nhava Sheva terminals do not permit early gate-ins.
Other ports within the western gateway, specifically Hazira and Mundra, are operating with full productivity. Truckers report slight congestion at Mundra for container gate-ins, as early gate-ins are also restricted to avoid congestion.
South-East India
Chennai: Chennai Ennore terminal is facing significant operational challenges due to a power outage. This has led to berthing delays, with vessels waiting an average of 3-4 days. As a result of these delays, feeder vessels opt to skip the port, further impacting the terminal's operations and throughput.
Malaysia
Port Klang: High yard utilisation and berth congestion at the West Port terminal are impacting port productivity. Ships with a higher discharge volume and ad hoc vessels wait 2-3 days for a berth.
Philippines
Manila: The average vessel waiting time has increased slightly to 2.38 days. At North Port, crane installation is complete, which should ease congestion.
Singapore
Singapore: Waiting times have improved slightly over the last four weeks due to carriers omitting the port to avoid schedule delays. However, Singapore remains heavily congested with an influx of volume and vessel bunching.
Sri Lanka
Colombo: The CICT terminal remains highly congested. Bad weather and inter-terminal transfer delays are causing berthing delays. The Red Sea situation and consequent congestion have resulted in a 2-week waiting time for transhipments.
Europe
Europe is approaching the summer holidays when ports usually have a lower labour supply. Lower labour availability, the risk of potential strikes, and the Red Sea situation increase the likelihood of congestion, which would have a knock-on effect on intermodal services and neighbouring ports.
Belgium
Antwerp: While vessel waiting time is below 2 days, yard density is increasing at the terminals.
France
Port workers suspended their strikes until September. Kuehne and Nagel reports that the situation in French ports is improving, and congestion is currently manageable.
Germany
Port workers took part in further warning strikes this week, severely impacting all operations and creating backlogs on both land and waterside.
Carriers report that these strikes will affect all vessels, not just those calling the ports at the time. The additional delays in Germany will result in ships returning late to Asia, thus reducing available capacity.
There remains the risk of further strikes coinciding with labour shortages occurring at the beginning of European summer holidays. Should contract negotiations drag on, port productivity could be strained further, with repercussions across services and ports.
Hamburg:
- CTB continues to have system challenges reducing truck slots. Yard utilisation is around 70%. Two berths are closed for the rest of the year for crane dismantling.
- CTA yard is highly utilised due to the increase in volumes moving through the terminal, evidenced by a full berthing lineup. Shore-power construction has reduced the number of berths available from 3 to 2 for large mainliners.
CTA and CTB expect reduced labour availability during the European Football Cup and the summer holiday season.
Greece
Piraeus: Port maintenance has reduced the number of available berths and lowered productivity. The maintenance is expected to be completed in July. Yard occupancy is around 70%. Nine ships were waiting at anchor at the time of publication.
Netherlands
Rotterdam: Yards are highly utilised, and berthing lineups are full. Feeders are handled in 24-hour windows.
Spain
Barcelona: Both container terminals in Barcelona port are experiencing congestion and delays, which are affecting gate, discharge/load, and berthing operations.
While waiting time has improved this week, congestion is extending truck turnaround time for empty pickup and full gate-in operations, which in turn is increasing vessel waiting times.
In addition, insufficient labour is causing spot delays at the port.
Barcelona is handling an increased volume of transhipment cargo and vessels arriving off schedule due to the Red Sea situation.
Valencia: The port is seeing high volumes and transshipments, causing congestion-related delays.
UK
Felixstowe: Rail traffic to and from the Port of Felixstowe was halted on 19 June after a derailment incident at the port. According to reports from the UK's National Rail, the incident impacts all trains serving the UK's largest port. Delays in container movement by rail are expected until rail tracks are cleared and repaired. The earliest date for reopening the railway for traffic is estimated to be Wednesday, 26 June.
London Gateway: From Monday, 24 June, rail services will be affected by infrastructure improvements and berth expansion at DP World's terminal. The extent of the rail delays will depend on the completion of the infrastructure work.
North America
USA
Charleston: Due to the ongoing construction, the waiting time for a berth has increased to 6.5 days this week.
Miami: Due to yard and terminal congestion, the average vessel waiting time has increased to 3 days this week.
Bahamas
Freeport: The average 7-day vessel waiting time is around 1.5 days in Freeport. Maersk reports a waiting time of 5-7 days for its ships.
South and Central America
Chile
High swells affected several Chilean ports last week. This week, Lirquen, San Vincente and Coronel are closed for vessel operations due to swells. Gate operations are possible daily until 21:00.
Panama
Cristobel/Manzanillo/Balbao/Rodman: Kuehne+Nagel reports transhipment delays at these ports due to the ripple effects of congestion upstream resulting from the Red Sea situation and the impact of strikes in Chile. In addition, port workers are not working extra hours, and yard density is high, impacting port productivity. Some carriers report waiting times of 4-7 days in Cristobel and between 1 and 3 days in Manzanillo and Balboa.
Panama Construction Unions will hold a 24-hour strike and erect roadblocks nationwide from 07:00 on 20 June until 07:00 on 21 June. This will delay truck movements to and from ports.
How Kuehne+Nagel calculates the average vessel waiting time?
Mainline container vessels may spend a certain number of days waiting at designated anchorage areas before their scheduled port call.
We calculate the average waiting time based on these days, 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; and
- vessels passing through the anchorage area without intending to call at the port
