2.7 million containers queued off the world’s ports – Ningbo shutdown worsens bottlenecks
It may prove difficult for the US and many other countries to stock up enough retail goods for the shopping spree that awaits on Black Friday and during the Christmas season.
As a consequence of the traffic pressure in the world’s largest container ports, 2.7 million twenty-foot containers are currently anchored off some of the world’s largest container ports.
More specifically, 409 container vessels loaded with a total of 2,732,133 twenty-foot containers (teu) filled with goods for retail and industry are currently waiting in line to unload their cargo, according to a new analysis prepared by VesselsValue for ShippingWatch.
Over the past nine days, the shut down container terminal Meishan in major Chinese port Ningbo has only exacerbated the chaos in global supply chains.
Thousands of containers waiting
A total of 80 container vessels comprising 393,650 teu are waiting to unload and reload goods at Ningbo’s remaining terminals, according to VesselsValue.
Marking the longest waiting period, one container vessel has been in line for more than nine days.
In another major Chinese port, Zhoushan, 100 container vessels totaling 457,869 teu are awaiting permission and entry at the terminals to unload their goods, with the longest waiting period being more than five days.
On the US west coast at Long Beach, California, one of the largest container ports in the US, issues with queues and bottlenecks are major as well, shows the analysis from VesselsValue.
33 container vessels are queued outside the port, totaling 255,333 teu, with one container vessel waiting for more than 18 days.
Good and bad news
According to shipping analyst Lars Jensen at Vespucci Maritime, there are both good and bad news about the precarious situation in global supply chains.
The good news, according to Jensen, is that the Meishan terminal at Ningbo, which was shut down on August 11, has now reopened.
However, the news about a reopening of the closed terminal has yet to bee confirmed by chinese authorities and the carriers.
The bad news, on the other hand, is that even though the remaining terminals have been able to somewhat manage the daily container traffic of around 77,000 teu, corresponding to 90 percent of the flow, the delays and rerouting that ensued from the shutdown will continue to reverberate throughout other ports and continually cause congestion in the global supply chains, Jensen explains.
The current situation resulting from the Ningbo shutdown will continually generate challenges in coming weeks. The overall situation, however, is not as bad as expected compared to the partial shutdown of Yantian, China, earlier in the year, Jensen concludes.
Source : SHIPPINGWATCH
