Reduced volume may initially help to mute the upward price pressure, however, if we see volume increase the availability of space will tighten quickly.' 'This will lead to a reduction of available capacity due to increased blank sailings, and ultimately higher transportation costs. 'The mounting delays at USA ports being experienced by carriers is leading to vessels returning to Asia out of position to fill their next scheduled inbound sailing,' said OL-USA CEO Alan Baer. So when you look at Shanghai and you have 25 canceled sailings, that takes out roughly 12 percent of the available sailings,' a logistics manager explained to CNBC. Future bookings tracked by FreightWaves show the total container volume from all ports in China to all ports in the U.S is down, reflecting a slowdown in consumer spending. Big swings in the recent past were a result of China's Covid lockdowns or slowdowns, but slowing demand has supplanted that story.īlank sailings of five or higher from China indicate a loss of capacity that starts to tighten the availability of space on vessels. 'If we use as a quick rule of thumb that there are 50 vessel sailings per week, that means you have 200 a month. What remains to be seen is how strong the peak season will be. 'Uncertainty around the labor talks, unprecedented and unplanned vessel calls, record cargo volume, and vessel diversions to Savannah have contributed to a higher than normal number of vessels waiting at anchor.' 'GPA is currently handling the highest volume of ad hoc and new service vessels the Port of Savannah has experienced to date,' it said in a release. Savannah is also receiving container trade diverted from the Port of Charleston.

Savannah has publicly stated that trade to its port has been boosted by West Coast labor talks and delayed access to rail at West Coast ports, prompting a significant shift in vessel calls. The Port of New York-New Jersey saw waiting times decrease slightly to 1.8 days on average with 10 vessels waiting at anchor.' Vessel counts increased from last week to 18 on average. East Coast, congestion at the Port of Savannah continues to be very high with average waiting times climbing to 7.5 days, up 123% compared to the previous quarter. The current backlog of containers at the ports will only increase congestion and add wait time for incoming vessels.Īccording to a report from Everstream Analytics, 'On the U.S.

Traditional peak season in ocean shipping starts in the month of August.

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