Port congestion in North Europe continues to worsen
Very high yard densities at North European container terminals and inland transport bottlenecks are aggravating port congestion problems in the trade between the Far East and North Europe.
Container ships deployed on this route currently need on average 101 days to complete a full round voyage.
This means that they arrive on average 20 days late in China for their next round trip, forcing carriers to blank some sailings as there is no ship available.
An example of how much time ships can lose by waiting at sea: when the 20,170 teu MOL TRIUMPH left Qingdao on Feb’ 16 for THE Alliance ‘FE4’ loop, she was expected to arrive at Algeciras on Mar’ 25 and to leave North Europe again bound for the Far East in Antwerp on Apr’ 7
The ship actually arrived at Algeciras on April 2 and called at Rotterdam (April 12-15), Antwerp (April 26-May 3) and Hamburg (May 14-18). The vessel is finally leaving North Europe this week already 41 days behind schedule
Source: Alphaliner
