Port congestion is one of the main problems affecting container shipping in summer 2026. The phenomenon includes both the build-up of ships at anchorage waiting for berths and the saturation of yards and landside infrastructure, with dwell times well above the standards seen before the Red Sea and Hormuz crises. Linerlytica estimates that global congestion has absorbed about 10% of the world fleet, equivalent to 3.4 million TEU, while the idle fleet has fallen below 1%. This means that almost all ships are deployed, but a significant share remains blocked within the network. The worst-affected area is the major Asian transhipment hubs. Reuters says Singapore is at its highest level of congestion since the pandemic, with ships forced to unload volumes far above normal, while Linerlytica and PortCast estimate waiting times of up to a week at peak periods. The phenomenon has spread to Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia and to the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Qingdao, where more than 60% of ships in Asia were waiting at anchorage in mid-June, with around 2.4 million TEU blocked.
The growth in Asian congestion began in spring 2024, when container ships were diverted from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope, lengthening voyages and concentrating flows through a smaller number of hubs. By mid-June that year, Linerlytica was already recording the highest level in 18 months, with average waits in Singapore of two to three days, later rising to as much as a week. The Middle East crisis in 2026 then tightened the system further: at the end of June, analysts estimated that around 50 ships were blocked in the Persian Gulf and about 10% of global capacity was frozen in port congestion, with the idle fleet down to 0.9% of the total.
This congestion stems from a combination of factors: the concentration of traffic on a limited number of hubs because of diversions via the Cape, the early arrival of the container peak season linked to US retailers’ restocking, and vessel capacity absorbed by longer voyages and waits at anchorage. A PortNews reconstruction puts the increase in vessel berth time at 43% between the third quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2024, leading to a decline in service reliability on Asia-Europe and Asia-North America routes. Reuters has also documented how US retailers are bringing forward orders from China ahead of the year-end shopping season, helping to keep transit volumes high.
To address this situation, MSC, the world’s largest carrier, is acting on two separate fronts. On the risk side, in the Middle East the company has activated defensive measures: bookings have been suspended to ports where ship safety and schedule predictability cannot be guaranteed, vessels have been moved to safer areas, and the network has been recalibrated to avoid the most exposed zones. On the opportunity side, where congestion and demand create scope for extra margins, as on the transpacific, the company has reintroduced an express service: a rotation with fewer calls, shorter transit times and premium commercial positioning, designed to capture cargo whose shippers are willing to pay higher freight rates to meet deadlines. In practice, cargo that is not urgent remains on standard services, while time-sensitive cargo shifts to the express option.
The mismatch between demand and the fleet’s effective capacity gives carriers room to apply General Rate Increases (GRI) and Peak Season Surcharges (PSS), while the real supply of slots is shrinking despite nominal capacity increasing through new deliveries. Blueconomy attributes MSC’s response to three factors: reducing operational and reputational risk in the most unstable areas, maximising fleet returns on high-value trades, and maintaining commercial flexibility in a context where fleet utilisation is close to 100%. Among the operators involved, the major transhipment terminals — PSA in Singapore, Port Klang, Tanjung Pelepas and the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Qingdao — are handling volumes more than 20% higher than the previous year, to the point of reactivating berths and opening new quays, as in the case of Tuas Port. MSC calls at practically all of them, and the repositioning of the fleet towards the Middle East is also reflected in the Mediterranean gateways that act as connecting nodes to Europe’s hinterland.
M.L.
