Supply chain disruptions and port congestion are here to stay. Find out what to expect in Kuehne+Nagel's weekly port operational update. 

Middle East Africa

Benin

Cotonou: Vessels wait, on average, 2 days for a berth in Cotonou. Two gantry cranes will undergo maintenance until the end of June.

Cameroon

Douala: The 7-day average vessel waiting time is around 2.5 days this week and yard occupancy is high. In addition, terminal IT systems issues persist, impacting productivity.

Côte d'Ivoire

Abidjan: The average vessel waiting time has increased to around 3.5 days this week in Abidjan.

Ghana

Tema: The port is recovering from adverse weather conditions, including high swells and power outages, which were experienced last week. These conditions significantly impacted berthing schedules and overall port productivity. Presently, 12 vessels are waiting outside the port. The average waiting time for vessels over the past 7 days has been approximately 4.5 days.

South Africa:

Cape Town: Waiting time has increased slightly this week on account of wind and equipment issues.

Durban: While waiting times have improved since the beginning of this month, they have increased again this week due to equipment challenges, high wind, and lowered productivity. Some vessels could wait up to 15 days. At the time of publication, there were 7 vessels at anchor.

Port Elizabeth: According to seaxplorer, one vessel is anchored in Algoa Bay. When high winds and equipment challenges occur, vessels can wait up to 24 hours for a berth.

Tanzania

Dar es Salaam: The 7-day average vessel waiting time remains elevated at around 10 days this week as a result of poor port productivity. At the time of publication, 9 vessels were at anchor.

UAE

Jebel Ali: Vessel waiting time remains elevated in Jebel Ali due to increased vessel calls resulting from the Red Sea situation. The additional volumes handled by the port have significantly increased yard density, impacting inter-terminal transfers. In addition, the increased throughput has impacted productivity as crane deployment and equipment availability are limited.

Asia Pacific

Australia

All ports and terminals are working with no to minimal delays across Australia. On Saturday, 25 May, protests in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Fremantle limited truck movements in and out of ports.

China

Dense fog intermittently closed Chinese ports last week. Several ports report slight congestion due to the increase in vessel bunching.

Bangladesh

Chittagong: Last Sunday, the port closed for 48 hours, and vessels were asked to take safety due to Cyclone Remal. On 28 May, the port resumed operations as usual. However, feeders are facing berthing waiting times of 2-3 days due to the closure.

Korea

Busan: Yard congestion in Busan has improved, reducing the waiting time for vessels to an average of 1 day. However, the situation remains fluid due to the late arrival of vessels and the increase in volumes.

Malaysia

Port Klang: Carriers report heavy berthing congestion at Westport, which increases waiting times by 1-1.5 days.

Tanjung Pelepas: Due to the Red Sea situation, the port is experiencing an increase in vessel calls, causing berthing congestion.

Philippines

Manila: A large number of vessels are waiting at anchor in Manila. Specifically, at MICT (Manila North), vessels are waiting 2-3 days for a berth due to installing and commissioning new cranes. According to seaexplorer, 16 vessels at anchor at the time of publication.

Singapore

Singapore: Carriers have reported increased congestion, vessel bunching, high yard occupancy, and reduced productivity in Singapore. According to seaexplorer analytics, vessels are waiting more than two days on average.

Specifically, some carriers report waiting between 5 and 7 days, resulting in the omission of Singapore to recover vessel schedules. Consequently, the congestion in Singapore leads to containers waiting for the next available sailing. Furthermore, omissions result in congestion at downstream ports, which must handle the additional volumes. Analysts believe this situation will persist for the next months. Read more

Sri Lanka

Colombo: Both terminals in Colombo are heavily congested due to the increase in the number of vessels calling at the port. Bad weather also added to berthing delays last week. At the time of publication, 12 vessels were at anchorage.

Europe

France

Strikes continue at French ports this week, involving 4 hours of operational stoppages per day between 12:00 and 16:00. Further strikes are expected in June; however, these have not yet been confirmed.

Currently, the strike mainly impacts truck deliveries at GMP and TNMSC due to limited slot availability. Read more

Mid-next week, gantry crane rail repairs will impact berth availability.

Germany

Hamburg: At Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB), yard utilisation has increased to 90% this week, causing significant delays to port operations. The increase is due to accumulated vessel delays and several May holidays.

Adding to the delays is the implementation of a new IT system with fluctuating performance, resulting in inconsistent productivity. Only two of four berths are available at Burchardkai. Trucking bottlenecks have been reported at CTB and Eurogate terminals. Read more

At Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), yard utilisation is around 76%, and three berths are now operational. The terminal foresees no issues with handling a high number of vessel arrivals this weekend.

Rail transport at all terminals experiences extensive delays and, in some cases, train cancellations. CTA and CTB rail cargo can be delayed up to 24 hours, and EKOM cargo can be delayed up to 7 hours.

Italy:

Genoa: Civil works in the area of Genoa SECH port terminal (Parco Rugna) are complete, and rail operations from/to SECH resumed on 27 May.

Netherlands

Rotterdam: ECT Delta Terminal is facing high berth utilisation and yard occupancy, adding pressure on labour availability. This is expected to ease next week and reduce waiting times at this terminal.

At Rotterdam World Gateway(RWG), yard density is around 72%, and import volume throughput is high. Berth line-up remains fully occupied. Reefers plugs are at 65% utilisation.

Portugal

The port authority has planned strikes beginning on 4 June at all Portuguese ports. Read more

Spain

Algeciras: The average vessel waiting time is around 1 day, and yard occupancy is above 70%. At the time of publishing, 6 vessels were at anchor.

Barcelona: Since the beginning of this week, vessel bunching in Barcelona has increased waiting times to around 5 days.

Valencia: The 7-day average vessel waiting time improved this week to 1 day from 2.5 days last week. However, the berth remains congested, with 6 vessels at anchor on 30 May. An increase in waiting time is possible when vessel bunching occurs.

North America

Canada

Workers at the Canada Border Services Agency have voted to strike next month after contract talks fail. Should the strike go ahead, it will impact the cross-border movement of goods at marine ports, airports and land entry points.

Meanwhile, talks between the union representing rail workers at Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have stalled, increasing the likelihood of a strike. Read more

USA

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) predicts an above normal activity for the 2024 Hurricane season, which extends from 1 June to 30 November. Read more

Charleston: Increased vessel bunching in Charleston has resulted in waiting times of more than 4 days this week. Carriers report an 8-day delay at WWT and 1-2 days at NCT. In addition, an incident involving the ZIM Mount Everest resulted in the vessel requiring 5 days to complete operations in Charleston, blocking a berth. The port also faced IT challenges last week, which hampered load operations. Seaexplorer shows 12 vessels waiting at anchor in Charleston at the time of publication.

Savannah: Despite vessel bunching, the average waiting time for a berth is 1.5 days. Gate-in and out operations are fluid.

South and Central America

Brazil

Itapoa: Congestion has resolved at the port. On-time vessels wait 6 hours for a berth, and late vessels wait 7 days.

Navegantes: Due to port construction, vessels are berthing on a FIFO basis. The port is under civil works to adapt its pier infrastructure for two years. The construction work will take place in two phases. While one side will be under construction (450 m), the other will continue to operate normally. The work will begin on the east side, and when this stage is completed, it will move to the west side. Port rotation changes and higher waiting times can be expected.

Chile

Coronel: Port operations resumed on 22 May after a 56-day port worker strike ended last week. Negotiations, however, are still ongoing between the parties. Empty rail positioning continues to be suspended due to bridge damage.

Mexico

Altimira: A truck shortage is causing a 48-hour delay in export and import transport. For rail transport, the wait is between 72 and 96 hours.

Lazaro Cardenas: Truckers favour tandem container movements over single movements, delaying the transport of shipments. Truck assignments take 48 hours, and rail assignments require 24-48 hours.

Manzanillo: Although there is no waiting time for vessels in Manzanillo, congestion is delaying the landside movement of containers. Truck appointments need to be made, on average, 24 hours in advance for exports and 120 hours for imports. Truck assignments for some containers are heavily delayed. Rail assignment requires 72-96 hours.

Veracruz: A truck shortage is causing a 48-hour delay in export and import transport. For rail transport, the wait is between 72 and 96 hours.

Monterrey/Guadalajara/Mexico City: Trucking shortages result in 72-hour delays in import and export transport.

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