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Container port congestion worsening at start of 2022: Sea-Intel

Container terminal congestion is getting worse as the industry moves into 2022 warn analysts Sea-Intelligence.

Marcus Hand, Editor

January 12, 2022

1 Min Read
Port of Rotterdam from the air
Photo: Port of Rotterdam

What were described as “seemingly interminable queues around the world” have taken out 11% of global containership capacity across 2021 while volumes grew at 7%. In normal times around 2% of containership capacity is tied up in waiting at ports.

Using data from South Korean line HMM a slight improvement could be seen between October and November last year. In November 2021 11.5% of container shipping capacity was caught up in delays, compared to 12.3% in October.

However, looking into figures for North America and Europe for December 2021 and the start of 2022 it sees no sign of improvement.

A terminal congestion index for North America showed hit a record high on 30 December, although improved slightly for 6 January driven by a better situation in Savannah and Charleston.

“For Europe, we see a situation that has been steadily getting worse since the start of October, with no signs of any improvement – or even levelling out,” said Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intel.

“This also implies that we might well expect to see a continued upwards push on freight rates on this trade, as the congestion is likely to have a negative impact on reliability, and hence in turn on available capacity.”

Container line schedule reliability sat at between 34% and 40% last year according to the analyst.

Related:Boxship newbuilds will just join port queues unless landside bottlenecks fixed

Looking ahead Murphy warned: “All the available data shows that congestion and bottleneck problems are worsening getting into 2022, and there is no indication of improvements as of yet.”

 

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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