The world’s major container ports, including some ports in Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe, have increased congestion, and the supply chain is facing tremendous pressure. There are currently 2.73 million TEU containers waiting to berth and unload outside the port. Ocean Treasure sees some ships have been waiting outside the port for 18 days. Some have even delayed for up to 30 days. Several ports worldwide have exacerbated the congestion problem due to the pandemic.
Worldwide Ports Congestion
The United States and many other countries have to increase their orders for the upcoming Black Friday and Christmas, becoming a major problem for the congestion. Due to the pressure of congestion in the world’s major ports, more than 2.7 million TEU containers are currently anchored outside the world’s major ports waiting to be berthed and unloaded.
According to the latest analysis report from Vessels Value, more specifically, 409 container ships carrying a total of 2732,133 TEU are currently waiting in line for unloading.
China Ningbo Meishan Port Closed on August 11
In the past nine days, the closure of the Ningbo Meishan port has exacerbated chaos in the global supply chain. According to data from Vessels Value, as of August 18, a total of 80 container ships (393,650TEU) were waiting to load and unload cargo at other terminals in Ningbo. One of the container ships has been in line for more than nine days and is also the cargo ship with the longest waiting time.
In the Port of Long Beach in California, the key problem of ship queuing and congestion is also terrible. Long beach is one of the largest container ports in the United States. Thirty-three container ships (totaling 255,333TEU) lined up outside the port. And one of them was waiting in line for more than 18 days.
Due to worsening port congestion at both ends of the trade route, the alliance service network operating between Asia and Northern Europe is experiencing a month-long delay. The Asia-Northern Europe line, which is expected about 75 days for round-trip transportation, now takes 100 days or more. According to a consultation report from Maersk, the waiting time in Antwerp has been as long as ten days.
Good News: China Ningbo Meishan Port Partly Reopen on August 24
There are both good news and bad news regarding the current instability in the global supply chain. The good news is that Meishan port, closed on August 11, is scheduled to reopen next week. However, the information about the reopening has not been confirmed by the official department. It is estimated that the Meishan port will be partially reopened on August 24 and fully open on September 1. It will take ten days to 2 weeks to clear the backlog of container ships. And it expects that the entire port will resume normal operations in the middle of next month.
Bad News: The Delays Caused by The Closure and The Diversion of Ships will Continue to Affect Other Ports.
The bad news is that although the remaining terminals can absorb approximately 77,000 TEU of containers per day. The delays caused by the closure and the diversion of ships will continue to affect other ports. And continue to cause congestion in the global supply chain. The current situation caused by the closure of Meishan Wharf will continue to pose challenges in the coming weeks.
However, compared with the partial closure of Yantian and Zhanjiang Port this year, the overall situation is not as bad as expected.
