Global port congestion has dropped to a 3 month low of just 5% of the global fleet waiting at anchorages around the world, with conditions in the 3 main regions in North America, North Asia and Europe all showing continued improvements. No major congestion hotspots have developed after the labour issues at the North America west coast ports are resolved and the after-effects of the recent typhoons have also started to clear out. The situation at the Panama Canal remains under control, with no
Congestion at Asia ports have cleared gradually after heavy rain in early August from typhoon Doksoru and Khanun caused flooding across multiple North Asian regions. Southern California ports were also hit by Hurricane Hilary over the weekend, but port operations were not materially impacted with both the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach to re-open on 21 August after the partial shutdown the day before. There were no containerships waiting at the San Pedro Bay anchorage, and no buildup in po
Port congestion is clearing up gradually across all main regions, with North American ports recording the biggest improvements although the severe weather conditions in Northeast China in the wake of typhoon Doksuri will have a negative impact on congestion in China in the coming week. The port labour dispute in Canada has officially ended on 4 August after workers in British Columbia accepted the new labour contract ending more than a month of uncertainty that had affected all cargo handled at
The on-off dockworker strike in Canada’s Pacific coast ports is expected to finally end after the ILWU Canada caucus approved the tentative deal on 21 July, with the results of its membership vote expected by 28 July 2023. Port operations have resumed on 19 July, but the vessel backlog remains to be cleared with 10 containerships still waiting at Vancouver and 2 ships at Prince Rupert with vessel waiting times of up to 14 days. Congestion at the rest of North American ports are largely checked
The dockworkers strike at Canada’s west coast ports that started on 1 July 2023 has not resulted in any rise in congestion numbers so far although this could change if the strike persists. There are 9 ships scheduled to arrive at the 2 Canadian West Coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert in the next 2 days. Overall port congestion across the Puget Sound ports including Seattle and Tacoma has not seen any significant change since the strike started over the weekend. Of the other ports in th
Container port congestion remained steady over the past week, with the total capacity tied up at anchorages at 1.7m teu or 6.4% of the fleet. There has been no significant changes across the 3 main regions of North Asia, North America and Europe with the congestion situation remaining steady throughout the past week. The resolution of the ILWU contract negotiations is expected to see further improvements across the US West Coast ports but the threat of a strike across the border remains as th
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have reached a tentative agreement with the PMA on 14 May 2023 on a new 6 year contract covering all 29 ports along the US West Coast, ending 13 months of negotiations that was marked by sporadic work actions by the port workers. The deal will still need to be ratified by the members in a process that would stretch over several months but it has helped to avert a catastrophic shutdown of port facilities in the US West Coast. The ILWU fai
US west coast ports remain open despite the work actions taken by the ILWU last week, with the build up of vessels waiting at west coast anchorages largely under control. Although the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) said that cargo operations at the port of Seattle were shut down on 9 and 10 June, this was disputed by the ILWU. Port productivity at Seattle and Tacoma have slowed with over the past week with port stays extended by several days and vessel berthing delays continuing although t
Congestion has built up around the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Ningbo and Qingdao over the past week, pushing up the number of containerships waiting at Chinese anchorages to 850,000 teu – the highest levels seen since September. The situation could worsen with rising Covid infection rates across Chinese cities after the government eased restrictions, affecting the availability of labor and port handling productivity. Congestion is expected to remain elevated over the coming weeks as Chinese wor
Global port congestion is trending down with the delays at US and European ports easing gradually on slowing cargo demand and improved terminal operations. With the threat of the US rail strike now averted, further improve-ments are expected even with the ILWU dockworker contract negotiations on the US West Coast still unresolved. Congestion in North Asia has however edged up with a heavy build up of ships in the Bohai region, with longer waiting times at Qingdao and Busan. The South Korean tru