Europe’s Ports Manage Congestion Amid Delayed Vessel Arrivals

North Europe’s container hub ports are coping with the arrival of delayed vessels from Asia and putting concerns over port and landside congestion to rest. In addition to vessel delays caused by reroutes around Africa, severe weather conditions in the North Sea and disruptions near Benelux ports and Hamburg have also added to the vessel delays.

Reflecting the arrival of delayed vessels, Hapag-Lloyd’s terminal operations update for North Europe reported that yard utilization levels at its hub ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Southampton climbed to 85%-90% last week, up from 55% the previous week. The carrier anticipates yard utilization levels will return to 65%-70% once the pre-Chinese New Year export surge runs its course.

Carriers have been able to return a significant number of containers to Asia, preventing an equipment crunch for export bookings. Hapag-Lloyd reported that empty container stacks at the North European hubs were at 60-65%.

Meanwhile, North American container ports, especially on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, are experiencing some congestion due to diversions from the Panama and Suez canals. Varying waiting times are reported at different terminals. The U.S. West Coast is seeing increased import throughput, attributed to the Red Sea crisis, Panama Canal restrictions, and robust consumer demand.

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