OSLO (Reuters) -Maersk is facing significant terminal congestion at ports across the Mediterranean and Asia, causing significant delays to its shipping schedule, the Danish shipping group said in a statement on Monday.
As a result of this congestion, the world’s second-largest container shipping line will skip two westbound sailings from China and South Korea that were scheduled to depart in early July, it added.
Maersk’s announcement comes as global supply chains face successive delays and higher costs due to Yemen’s Houthi militant attacks on commercial ships near the Suez Canal. Major ocean container carriers such as Maersk, MSC and Hapag-Lloyd have diverted ships to the longer route around Africa for safety reasons.
Singapore, home to the world’s second-largest container seaport, is the latest to be hit by congestion, according to Linerlytica. Data from that company also showed congestion at ports in China, Dubai, Spain and the United States.
Ports in China have been hit by high winds and other weather conditions that have affected cargo flows, shipping experts told Reuters.
The worsening congestion at the Jebel Ali ports in Singapore and Dubai is caused by the sudden increase in cargo demand and ongoing disruptions caused by the diversion of ships from the Red Sea, Lynerlytica said.
Ultra-large ships from the Far East unload containers at western Mediterranean ports such as Barcelona, then reload them onto smaller ships bound for final destinations at ports in the central and eastern Mediterranean, disrupting operations in the affected ports are coming under pressure, according to price platform Xeneta.
According to the Journal of Commerce, backups are also growing at two ports on the US East Coast. Charleston, South Carolina, the congestion is due to an ongoing infrastructure project, while backups in Savannah, Georgia, are related to a recent software outage, the trade publication reported.
