Port Congestion Reaches New High Amid Peak Season Pressure

Global ports are once again facing significant congestion, creating growing disruption across major trade lanes and adding further pressure to already challenging supply chain conditions.

The situation is particularly acute in the Middle East, where backlogs of vessels exiting the Strait of Hormuz have contributed to congestion at several regional ports. The Port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is among the most severely affected, with delays partly driven by increased cargo volumes moving from land bridge routes across the Gulf.

Recent reports suggest truck queues at Jeddah have stretched up to 5km, with some vehicles waiting as long as three days to enter the port to collect or return containers. The severity of the disruption has led at least one carrier to suspend bookings to the port.

Further afield, the early onset of the Asia peak season has intensified congestion across North Asia, Southeast Asia and Northern Europe. Overall port congestion has reached a four-year high, with around 3.7 million TEU, representing approximately 11% of global fleet capacity, understood to have been waiting for berths recently.

Several major Asian export hubs are experiencing elevated delays, with waiting times of up to three days reported at Shanghai and Singapore.

Northern Europe’s largest container ports are also under increasing operational strain, as delayed vessel arrivals coincide with congested terminals and inland transport networks. Hamburg is seeing waits of around three days, Antwerp four days and Zeebrugge six days.

Rotterdam is experiencing shorter vessel waits, but import and export dwell times remain elevated. In the UK, both Felixstowe and Southampton are reportedly seeing wait times of up to three days.

With strong seasonal demand, limited space availability, equipment shortages in parts of Asia and rising freight rates, current market conditions remain highly challenging. Westbound continues to monitor developments and is working closely with partners to mitigate disruption where possible.