It is reported that there are still more than 40 billion US dollars of container ships carrying cargo in the waters around North American ports waiting to enter the port to unload. However, the change is that the center of congestion has shifted to the Eastern United States. About 64% of the waiting ships are concentrated in the Eastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico, while only 36% of the ships waiting in the Western United States are concentrated.
Anchors at ports along the eastern U.S. and Gulf Coast continue to be crowded with container ships waiting to unload, with the number of container ships queuing at these ports now far outnumbering those in the west.
A total of 125 container ships were waiting to berth outside North American ports as of Friday, according to an analysis of MarineTraffic and California queue ship tracking data.
That’s down 16% from the 150 waiting ships at the peak of West Coast congestion in January, but up 36% from the 92 waiting ships a month ago.
Vessels lining up near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have dominated headlines over the past year, but the center of the congestion has changed: As of Friday, only 36% of vessels were waiting to berth outside the West Coast port, while 64% Ships gather at ports along the eastern U.S. and Gulf Coast. The Port of Savannah, Georgia, has the largest queue of ships in North America.
The total capacity of container ships waiting outside the ports of the United States and British Columbia last week was 1,037,164 TEU. Assuming a ship load factor of 90%, the average cargo value per import TEU was $43,899 (the average value of import cargo in Los Angeles in 2020 value, which is likely to be conservative given inflation).
Then, the total value of these cargoes waiting to be berthed and unloaded outside the port is estimated to be more than 40 billion US dollars.
01 Affected by labor negotiations, shipping capacity is transferred to the Eastern United States
According to Project44, a Chicago-based supply chain visibility platform that tracks the volume of boxes arriving in the West and East United States on a monthly basis, the statistical report found that capacity shipped to the East United States increased by 83% year-on-year in June, an increase compared to June 2020. 177%.
The current capacity of the US East is equivalent to that of the US West, which has dropped by nearly 40% from its peak in January.
Project44 attributed the shift to importers’ concerns about possible disruptions to labor negotiations at West Coast ports.
02 Vessel queuing situation on the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico
As of Friday, MarineTraffic data showed that there were 36 container ships waiting for berths at the Port of Savannah offshore Tybee Island, Georgia.
The total carrying capacity of these ships is 343,085 TEU (average capacity: 9350TEU).
FreightWaves’ SONAR booking index shows that compared with January 2019, Savannah’s import volume growth was significantly higher than the national average.
According to updated data from Hapag-Lloyd, the current waiting time for container ships at the Port of Savannah is 10-12 days. Savannah’s yard utilization rate is 89%.
The port with the second largest number of ship queues in the East United States is the Port of New York-New Jersey.
As of last Friday, there were 20 ships waiting for berths, with a total capacity of 180,908 TEU (average capacity: 9045TEU).
Hapag-Lloyd said the waiting time for a berth at the Port of New York-New Jersey “depends on the terminal situation and is currently more than 20 days.”
It added that the yard utilization rate at Maher Terminal is 92%, GCT Bayonne Terminal is 75%, and APM Terminal is 72%.
On the Gulf Coast, there are 20 ships waiting near Houston with a total capacity of 121,196 TEU (average capacity: 6,060 TEU).
According to Hapag-Lloyd, utilization at Barbours Cut in Houston is 86% and “the terminal continues to experience a shortage of undercarriage equipment due to longer dwell times.”
Elsewhere along the East Coast and Gulf Coast, two ships were waiting near the Port of Virginia and two more were waiting near the port of New Orleans.
03 Ship queues in the US-West Coast
According to the ship queue data of the Southern California Maritime Exchange at 7 a.m. last Friday, there were 24 container ships waiting for berths in Los Angeles-Long Beach, with a total capacity of 208,903 TEU (average capacity: 8,704 TEU).
The backlog is down sharply from a high of 109 ships on January 9, but remains the second-largest port in North America.
Vessel numbers in Los Angeles and Long Beach have been hovering at current levels since the end of May and are still up slightly year over year.
At other West Coast ports, 10 ships were waiting in Oakland, according to San Francisco Bay Area Maritime Exchange data at 7 a.m. Friday.Waiting for berth. The total capacity of these ships is 79,712 TEU (average capacity: 7,971 TEU).
In addition, eight ships are waiting for berths in Vancouver, British Columbia, and three more are waiting for berths near Seattle-Tacoma.
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