Overall port congestion

Kuehne+Nagel's Disruption Indicator reflects the daily fluctuation in port congestion at hot spot ports worldwide. By combining data on the number of vessels waiting at a port, their TEU capacities, and the number of waiting days, the indicator measures disruption in TEU waiting days. Under normal circumstances, the TEU waiting days would be around one million.

Congestion at all hot spot ports continued a downward trend this week, improving by 27% compared to a week ago. TEU waiting days dropped from 2,978,348 TEU days last week to 2,161,887 TEU days this week. 

A significant improvement is seen in Oakland, where the average 7-day vessel waiting time has improved from 7 days last week to under 4 days this week.

Despite ongoing labour action at LA-Long Beach, vessel waiting time is minimal. There are currently no vessels waiting outside the ports.

In the Seattle-Vancouver area, the 7-day average vessel waiting time has increased by more than a day to 3.2 days this week. Yard congestion and rail dwell are reportedly high in Vancouver, causing delays. Rail and berth availability should improve in May.

Waiting times at European hot spot ports remain stable this week.

In Asia, the 7-day average waiting time in the Shanghai-Ningbo and Hong-Kong -Yantian areas have also remained stable at around the 3-day mark. 

Port Update

Africa

Kenya

Mombasa: Issues with customs systems are causing delays and backlogs at the port of Mombasa, inland container freight stations, inland container depots and airports. Mombasa, however, is reportedly the most affected. Importers are concerned over rising storage costs as cargo wait to be cleared and have urged the government to intervene urgently. The Kenya Trade Network Agency(KenTrade) said teams are working to resolve the issue. According to the government, digitisation of the trade process in Kenya has grown from 14% before the launch of the system to 94%, reports Maritime Executive.

South Africa

Carriers are preparing for the upcoming citrus export season by adjusting call windows or adding ports to their services.

•  Hapag Lloyd announced window changes for northbound port calls on its South Africa Express starting with MV Santa Teresa V. 231N as follows:
• Coega ETB Tue 06:00, ETD Wed 18:00
• Durban ETB Mon 22:00, ETD Thu 22:00
• Cape Town ETB Wed 05:00, ETD Sat 06:00
•    Maersk announced it would add a Port Elizabeth call to its WAF1 service. Cargo destined for Europe will connect with the SAECS service in Port Tangier. The first vessel to call Port Elizabeth will be the Celsius Boston, with an ETA of 31 May.

Strong winds continue to impact port operations in South Africa. The 7-day average vessel waiting time in Cape Town has remained roughly the same at around 5 days. Waiting time for Port Elizabeth has increased from about 2.5 days last week to 6 days this week. On a positive note, the 7-day average vessel waiting time in Durban has improved significantly from around 4 days last week to under 2 days this week. 

Asia

India

Mangalore: CMA CGM’s Hong An is the first mainline vessel to call the newly operational container terminal at New Mangalore Port (NMP). The vessel operates on the BIGEX service, connecting India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with the Middle East. Initiatives to improve the productivity at the port, which resulted in more berthing time, allow Mangalore to accommodate this mainline service regularly.

Nhava Sheva:  Congestion has continued at the individual terminals since the closing of a berth at the APM terminal Mumbai (GTI) and dredging works at BMCT. Move counts may be limited at some terminals, and vessels may be delayed. The 7-day average vessel waiting time remains unchanged this week at around 2 days.

Europe

Croatia

Rijeka: The ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) has expanded its nationwide TransNET south eastern Europe container offering. A new non-stop train running between Budapest and Rijeka can accommodate 20’ and 40’ containers. Its extensive network connections will allow cargo to reach inland locations in Western Europe, such as Neuss, Vienna, Wels or Ludwigshafen. RCG offers two round trips per week between Budapest and Rijeka, leaving Budapest on Wednesdays and Fridays and Rijeka on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Belgium

Antwerp:  DP World’s Antwerp Gateway received three new cranes as part of its 200 million euro investment plan for the terminal's modernisation, greening and capacity expansion. The port operator said the cranes would enable it to handle projected volume growth in the future. In addition, DP World will commission three new automatic modules this year. Plans to add two more quay cranes next year will bring the STS (ship-to-shore) cranes to 15. “The latest cranes can handle up to a width of 26 container rows on a ship, which is one row more than on the current generation of container vessels, “said DP World.

Germany

Hamburg: Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) at Hamburg Port was classified as “critical infrastructure” early this year, which brought COSCO’s plans to acquire a share of the terminal under scrutiny once again. In October 2022, the German government approved the shipping group’s acquisition of a 24.9% stake after several months of assessment and deliberations. However, the new status calls for reassessing the potential sale, said Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. Some see this reassessment as arbitrary since the share does not result in a takeover by COSCO but said it is a way for the carrier to optimise its operations in Hamburg. A government spokesperson noted that the stance of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the issue “had not changed,” according to a report by Reuters.

Poland

Gdansk:  Effective 15 May, CMA CGM will dock all their vessels in Gdansk at the Baltic Hub container terminal instead of at the Port of Gdynia. The carrier says this will improve its service to customers and provide better accessibility to inland transportation in Poland and the surrounding countries. Its service to Szczecin remains unchanged.

Turkey

Iskenderun: Although repairs to infrastructure at the port are ongoing, Iskenderun is ready to begin accommodating container vessels. Directorate head Unal Baylan announced the port would initially accept feeder vessels in April and larger container vessels in May. Last week, COSCO's Contship Sea deployed on the carrier’s LGX1 service called Iskenderun. Since then, COSCO and OOCL have announced the addition of the Turkish port to their NET2 Service, connecting it with northern Europe. Seaspan New Dehli is scheduled to arrive in Iskenderun in early June. 

Middle East

Saudi Arabia

​The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) recorded a 21.14% rise in container volumes last month, handling 693,523 TEU compared to 572,475 TEU during the same period the previous year. A closer look at the data shows a 17.74% increase in exports, totalling 195,495 TEU in March 2023, compared to 166,045 TEU in the same month last year. Imports recorded significant growth of 37.05% to 224,221 TEU in 2023 from 162,876 TEU last year. Transhipment handling increased by 12.83% last month, totalling 274,807 TEU versus 243,554 TEU last year.

North America

Canada

Ports of Halifax, Montreal and Quebec experienced a ‘denial-of-service’ cyberattack on 12 April that rendered their websites inaccessible but did not cause any disruption to operations or data breach. Although not yet confirmed, reports suggest that pro-Russian hackers may be behind this attack.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and Halifax Port employers reached a tentative labour agreement, replacing the original deal that expired in 2020. The parties issued a joint statement on 12 April on the development but did not disclose further details. The tentative agreement will need to be ratified by the rank-and-file union members and approved by the employer membership. It remains unclear when the ratification will take place. Similar negotiations are currently taking place concerning new contracts for workers at Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports. Contracts of dockworkers at Canada's second-busiest container port, the Port of Montreal, expired last month. Negotiations between employers and the union are expected to begin soon.

USA

LA-Long Beach: In a statement dated 13 April, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) says port workers are intentionally disrupting port operations at LA-Long Beach by delaying labour dispatch and forcing necessary cargo handling equipment to be taken out of operation at several key terminals. According to Lloyd’s List, a spokesperson for the port of Los Angeles said that all terminals remain open, and there is no impact on operations and cargo flow. In addition, Lloyd’s List reports that employers have responded to the slow-downs by halting the union’s (ILWU) pay guarantee plan, which ensures dockworkers their weekly salary even if there is no work at the ports. The increased tension between the parties is concerning as contract negotiations continue without a settlement in sight.

In addition, the port of Los Angles reported a “soft” first quarter handling 1,837,094 TEUs. This is a year–on–year drop of 32% compared to 2022. The port’s executive director Gene Seroka highlighted that the conclusion of the contract negotiations between the PMA and the ILWU remains crucial to bring back cargo to the West Coast Ports.

South America

Cuba

The Mariel Container Terminal (TCM) has completed the dredging of the canal and will now be able to receive Neo Panamax ships. The port is located in the centre of the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), connecting it to Havana through a rail network and highways. To support the handling of these larger vessels, TCM boasts a handling capacity of 800 000 TEU per year.