Severe port congestion in Asia is currently disrupting ocean freight sailing schedules, which has added another dynamic to the lack of space and equipment shortages.

Congestion at Singapore, the world’s second busiest port, is understood to be at critical levels, which has led to some carriers omitting calls. Berthing delays of up to a week are currently being experienced at the Southeast Asian port and it is not the only one with issues in the region.

In the Far East, Shanghai and Qingdao are amongst the ports that are currently witnessing a huge build-up of containerships, with Shanghai, the world’s busiest port, incurring it highest congestion levels since the aftermath of the pandemic.

The bottlenecks affecting many Asia ports have been attributed to the longer route diversions caused by the Red Sea crisis and the subsequent  schedule disruption.

Unfortunately, there seems to be little good news to report in the Asia ocean freight market at the moment, which continues to suffer from delays, a lack of booking availability and spiralling rates.

As ever, the Westbound team are monitoring developments closely and working extremely hard to manage the challenging situation.

If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.