Singapore Port Congestion
Singapore, the world's second-busiest container port, is experiencing critical congestion levels, causing ships to wait up to seven days to berth. This situation is exacerbated by diversions due to the Red Sea crisis and carriers bypassing Port Klang in Malaysia. The congestion in Singapore has led to vessel bunching and increased delays at downstream ports. Linerlytica reports that nearly 7% of the global fleet, equivalent to 2 million TEU of ships, is currently tied up due to port congestion, contributing to global carrier spot rate hikes expected between June 1st and June 15th.
Schedule Reliability Decline
According to the latest data from eeSea, the liner industry's schedule reliability has significantly declined in the first quarter of 2024. The on-time performance of vessels fell to an average of 27%, down from 35% in 2023. This decline, attributed to the ongoing Red Sea crisis and increased port congestion, is expected to continue into the second and third quarter, with early indications showing a further drop to 22%. Major ports such as Shanghai and Singapore have experienced notable delays, affecting overall schedule reliability. All the changes and delays from the seagoing vessels are essentially passed onwards to the landside and warehouses, causing additional difficulties in securing truck capacity at the very last second.