Northern Europe port congestion to last until at least August
- With peak season approaching concerns grow that congestion will persist, prompting carriers to take pre-emptive measures and adjust service rotations to avoid congestion hotspots
- Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s Seasearcher platform shows significant queues of vessels anchored outside ports awaiting berthing clearance
- Strong demand, alliance restructuring and other factors including widespread industrial action has led to consistent delays at North Europe’s premier box hubs
Northern Europe’s container ports are still experiencing significant congestion, with carriers adjusting services to avoid the worst-affected locations. Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg continue to experience delays, leading shipping lines including Maersk, CMA CGM and MSC to either revise schedules, extend transit times and reroute services. But shippers can expect delays until the end of the peak season at the very earliest
CONGESTION at container ports in northern Europe is showing little sign of alleviating with the issue expected to last until August at the very earliest, coinciding with the end of the peak season.
In recent week carriers have started rerouting services to avoid the worst-affected hubs, while warning shippers to expect further disruption in the coming weeks.
With the peak season fast approaching for mainline Asia-Europe cargoes lines have looked to pre-empt further delays, announcing several revised port rotations.
Among the worst impacted has been Rotterdam, Europe’s largest box facility on annual teu terms.
Last week, Maersk announced that “due to the current operational constraints” its transatlantic TA5 service would no longer call in Rotterdam from June 25 onwards, sailing instead straight from Felixstowe to Hamburg.
On June 3, Lloyd’s List Intelligence vessel tracking showed as many as 11 ships anchored off Rotterdam awaiting clearance into the port.
Meanwhile, Maersk’s former 2M partner Mediterranean Shipping Co has warned customers that it is planning “slidings”, or extended transit times, on two services later this month, in a move prompted by “ongoing challenging market situation generating congestion and schedule delays across the supply chain”.
The slidings will take effect on the carrier’s standalone Asia-Europe services — Britannia, which includes calls in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg, as well as Lion, from weeks 25 and 26 respectively. The Lion standalone loop also makes a stopover in Antwerp.
In Antwerp delays persist, although congestion is not at the heights of early May, when a walkout from private and public sectors against the Belgian government’s budget cuts brough the port to a standstill.
Last week, Drewry noted that berth waiting times in Antwerp jumped from 32 hours in week 13 to 44 hours in week 20, a rise of 37%.
On Tuesday, as many as five containerships were queuing at the Westhinder anchorage off the Belgian coast awaiting clearance through the river Scheldt to access the port, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s Seasearcher.
Hamburg is also seeing vessel queues into its terminal. Here six ships were anchored off the port on Tuesday.
In a weekly advisory to customers, South Korean carrier HMM has continued to warn of heavy port congestion across the continent, including the most lengthy delays into Hamburg, highlighting average vessel waiting times of up to six days.
However, it has reported that delays at the UK port of London Gateway, operated by DP World, have improved in recent weeks. This week, it noted, that vessel scheduling was only being affected by up to 24 hours, compared with as much as three days this time last week.
Carriers are though still looking to reroute services from the port to avoid delays in the coming weeks.
CMA CGM and Maersk have informed customers that their joint NeoSamba/SAFRAN service, connecting North Europe with the South American east coast, will now call in Southampton rather than London Gateway for four consecutive voyages this month. This will commence with the arrival of Maersk Leticia (IMO: 9526916) in the UK this week, which is scheduled to call Southampton on June 5, in what Maersk said is a “temporary change with the goal of avoiding congesting activities”.
A spokesperson for the British International Freight Association told Lloyd’s List that some of its members have said that London Gateway has been subjected to more delays in the UK compared to its other key ports, namely Southampton and Felixstowe, as it continues to incorporate services operated under the Gemini Cooperation.
The trade association also noted anecdotal evidence from its members of congestion issues, as well as containers being delivered late to the railhead and missing booked train connections.
Prolonged congestion
Ports in northern Europe have been subject to delays of varying degrees for several months, which have occurred for several reasons rather than one determining factor.
The sector has had to cope with the major shift in shipping alliances, including the break of 2M and subsequent formation of the Gemini Cooperation. This has meant a serious overhaul in vessel positioning and supply chain configuration for the carriers implicated. There have also been low water levels on the continent, which has restricted hinterland barge activity, widespread strike action at major ports, while also an unprecedented surge in cargo on the Asia-Europe trade and near record volumes on the transatlantic route at the hands of tariff-induced front-loading.
The immediate concern is that the European port sector is heading into the summer peak season, signalling a traditional uptick in demand.
Moves to reroute sailings and extend sailing times in the coming weeks are testament to how carriers are looking to minimise further delays. However, with carriers announcing service reroutings into July, this suggests an expectation that congestion will persist at least into next month.
Hind Chitty, senior manager at London-based analysts Drewry, told Lloyd’s List that the likelihood is congestion in northern Europe will last until the peak season draws to a close.
“Provided no further major labour disruption occurs, and key market dynamics begin to stabilise, as the situation is not confined to just Europe it’s all over, including across Asia and now in North America, we would expect the congestion to end by August as we don't foresee any surge in demand after that,” she said.
