“Klaus Müller-Blech is sending Christmas to Gettysburg, Pa., in a 1,000-foot long container ship. So far it’s running three months late thanks to global transportation congestion…The slow and expensive global journeys of Mr. Müller-Blech’s baubles, trees and ornaments show how every aspect of international transportation is under stress ahead of the busy Christmas season.”

“There are over 60 container ships full of import cargo stuck offshore of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but there are more than double that — 154 as of Friday — waiting to load export cargo off Shanghai and Ningbo in China, according to eeSea, a company that analyzes carrier schedules.”

“Full year growth figures for the volume of containers shipped around the world are showing considerable divergence among analysts.”

“…DP World announced today it would begin construction of a fourth berth at London Gateway next month. The Dubai-headquartered port operator said this morning it would invest £300m ($415m) in the new facility, building on the £2bn-plus it has already ploughed into the UK’s newest deepsea port.”

“…the injection of supply is being countered by congested ports delaying vessels and inland logistics bottlenecks slowing equipment turnaround…Data from container shipping visibility provider eeSea show Asia-North Europe capacity growth in August 2021 increasing 29 percent versus the capacity deployed in July and up 11 percent versus June. August capacity was up 34 percent year over year.”

“CMA CGM and the Abu Dhabi Ports Group (ADPG) today signed a 35-year concession to jointly develop a new container terminal at Khalifa Port.”

“Looking at the big picture, new analysis from Copenhagen-based Sea-Intelligence shows that the 11 global carriers that report their results recorded a combined EBIT of $24.5bn in the second quarter. Putting this in perspective, the 11 carriers were only able to muster a total combined EBIT of $6.9bn for the entire period from 2012 to 2020.”

“With a record vessel backup of 47 container ships waiting outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during the Aug. 28 and 29 weekend, the core problem facing container logistics — the slowdown in the circulation of ships, containers, and chassis that is draining capacity and driving spot rates to record levels — is clearly worsening.”

“Container lines this month began upping their deployment of trans-Pacific capacity, with approximately 22 percent more capacity available to the West Coast through December than was available in March through July, according to eeSea, a platform that maps carrier schedules. Carriers are also adding approximately 14.4 percent more capacity to the East Coast through year-end, eeSea said.”

“Splash has identified 41 containerships at or near to the San Pedro anchorage awaiting a berth today in a peak season like none other in the 65-year history of containerisation…The Los Angeles port data for August showed that 90% of vessels headed straight to anchor, joining a queue averaging 7.8 days of anchor time.”

“Discussing the fast changing global congestion scene, eeSea founder Simon Sundboell commented: ‘The picture of course changes daily, and my impressions from speaking to our port customers is exactly that; it’s really a moving target right now – with a multitude of variables, not just Covid – and incredibly hard to plan for.’ “

“Asia-North Europe loops with a pro-forma round-trip transit time of around 75 days are now taking 100 or more, with carriers obliged to juggle schedules at the last minute.”

“Initially, the ports authority claimed that its operating system was down early this morning before the Ningbo Municipal Health Commission came clean with the news. The infected worker was part of the workforce at Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal.”

“The world’s two largest ports are experiencing unprecedented volumes of tankers, bulk carriers and containerships back up into the East China Sea as a combination of renewed Covid cases, fierce weather and strong US demand creates further supply chain havoc.”

“Prices for sought after panamax boxships have more than doubled in the space of just three months, one of the sharpest vessel appreciations recorded in the history of shipping.”

“ ‘Under normal circumstances, carriers would never do this, because bunker consumption is such a major cost factor,’ said Simon Sundboell, CEO of shipping data provider eeSea. ‘But if you’re talking about rates of $12,000 [per forty-foot equivalent unit], you will do it…’ “

“CEO and founder of eeSea Simon Sundboell told The Loadstar the discontinued ME6 service deployed seven vessels and, at first glance, the Jade Express and the Chennai Express, which deploy two ships each, would also be phased out.”

“According to eeSea, Durban has 18 container services calling – nine link to Asia, three to Europe one to North America and the remainder are a mix of feeder and regional services.”

“Exclusive data from maritime intelligence service eeSea shows the world’s most congested box spots. (…) Lars Jensen…estimated that 10% of the world’s shipping capacity has been taken out due to port congestion issues.”

“Antwerp is the latest North European box port to suffer from the knock-on effect of terminal and quay congestion, with vessel berthing waiting times now extending to five days at the Belgium hub.”