Port Congestion Is Getting Worse .. But Who Is Responsible?

Port congestion is becoming an increasingly familiar problem for global container shipping, with vessels spending more time waiting for berths and less time being efficiently handled at terminals.

New analysis from Drewry points to a clear deterioration in two important measures: global vessel waiting times are increasing, while container shipping schedule reliability is falling.

And this isn't simply a case of a port being “too busy”.

In early August, for example, typhoons affecting China resulted in vessels waiting an average of 3.6 days for a berth, according to Drewry's Ports and Terminals Insight. Weather events can create an immediate backlog, but the bigger concern is what happens afterwards, and how quickly a port can recover.

Drewry's data shows that average containership waiting times globally have nearly doubled between the first seven months of 2019 and the first seven months of 2026. Total time spent in port has also increased, with the average time a containership spends in port now around 31% higher than in 2019.

For shipping lines and their customers, that extra time can quickly translate into vessel delays, rolled bookings, missed connections and uncertainty around delivery dates.

So, is there enough port capacity?

Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc recently pointed to insufficient container port capacity as a contributor to congestion in several regions, including Europe, South America, West Africa and the Middle East.

There has undoubtedly been significant growth in container volumes since before the pandemic. But Drewry's analysis suggests the picture is more complicated than simply saying ports have failed to invest.

Across nine major container ports examined by Drewry, terminal capacity increased by around 21% between 2019 and 2026, while container volumes increased by 28%.

That gap puts greater pressure on existing infrastructure, particularly when terminals are already operating at high utilisation.

There is an important distinction here: a terminal operating at 75% utilisation has considerably more ability to absorb a disruption than one operating at 90%. At higher utilisation levels, even a relatively small disruption can take considerably longer to clear.

And it isn't just the terminal that influences congestion.

Carrier schedules and network decisions can also contribute. Blank sailings, additional vessels and changes to scheduled services can create significant peaks in container volumes arriving at individual ports. When large numbers of containers arrive in a short period, terminal yards and landside transport networks can come under pressure.

Then add weather disruptions, labour constraints, equipment availability, landside congestion and unexpected changes in vessel schedules, and it becomes clear why port congestion is difficult to pin on one particular party.

What does this mean for Australian businesses?

For Australian importers and exporters, congestion overseas can have consequences long before a container reaches an Australian port.

A vessel delayed at its origin may miss its planned connection. A container may be rolled to another sailing. An arrival date can move by several days, or sometimes considerably longer when disruption spreads through a network.

This is why relying on the original estimated arrival date can be risky when supply chains are already under pressure.

The reality is that the global container shipping system has been designed heavily around efficiency and utilisation. There is a cost to maintaining spare capacity and resilience, and the industry continues to balance those competing priorities.

For businesses, the practical response is not necessarily to try to predict exactly where the next congestion event will occur. It is to understand where there is exposure in the supply chain and build some flexibility into the planning where possible.

That might mean allowing additional transit time for critical shipments, keeping an eye on carrier schedule changes, reviewing alternative routing options or considering airfreight when the cost of a delay is greater than the cost of moving the goods more quickly.

Port congestion isn't going away. And there probably isn't one party that can simply fix it.

The challenge is making sure businesses understand how congestion can flow through the supply chain, and planning accordingly.