PUBLISHER: Container News (container-news.com)
Boxport congestion is growing across multiple continents. Clarkson’s containership port congestion index shows that as of last Thursday 36.2% of the global fleet was at port, up from 31.5% in the pre-pandemic years from 2016 to 2019, with Clarksons observing in its latest weekly report that congestion on the US east coast has recently risen to near record levels.
“Ongoing disruption caused by port congestion remains extremely supportive to the charter market, despite trade volumes in 2022 so far having come under pressure from a combination of factors,” Clarksons noted.
An operational update from German carrier Hapag-Lloyd, issued on Friday, highlighted the myriad congestion issues facing carriers and shippers around the world.