AGTC 2025: Port congestion & Middle Eastern conflicts complicate vessel schedules

The mixture of port congestion at a number of ports and conflicts in the Middle East is disrupting ocean carrier operations, according to Fabio Santucci, President of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

Santucci was speaking at the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AGTC) annual meeting in Tacoma, Washington where he said: “Port congestion is something that I call the silent killer of efficiency. ...You have limitations for yard efficiencies, vessel bunching, too much cargo inland, congestion outside of the gate, “which all contribute to the problem.

A panel of agricultural exporters had raised concerns about cancelled ship sailings, being kept in the dark about vessel arrivals, and unreliable schedules that had spilled over into problems picking up containers at container terminals.

The panelists included:

• Bill Parker, Wonderful
• Janie Ogg, Green Plains
• Jakob Sadd, Pacific Seafood
• Tara Roseberry, Simplot

Santucci told the AGTC audience that congestion was a problem at European ports as well as ports in Asia: “The schedule and vessel changes that you complain about are derived from this. If we take a look at the top congested ports today, they are mostly European ports. But we also have a lot of issues in Shanghai in Singapore. Singapore has been steadily working at 90% capacity for months and months and months. And I can tell you that 90% capacity at any terminal every day for weeks and months generates a lot of inefficiencies. And we have seen that during COVID, where our own terminals were working in 90% to 95% capacity in some cases, and at some terminals on paper above a hundred percent of capacity.”

The result is that “The space is not being utilized as, as it should, and fluidity is lost, which means the dwell time increases and all the rail for cargo, good operations and appointments become challenging.”

That problem is compounded when the container is being transshipped from one port to a second port before arriving in the United States or vice versa: “And so if your cargo is transshipping, it's witnessing congestion levels that are as high as those seen during COVID. So, while we don't see this effect in the United States because our ports and rails are not congested. North America is really not appearing in this chart significantly.”

However, outside the United States, congestion is more widespread: “We have issues about pretty much anywhere else in the world. And so, Shenzhen, Antwerp, Busan, Hong Kong, Manzana, Valencia, Panama, these are only some of the most congested ports.”

He said 8-10% of the global shipping capacity is constrained by port congestion while another 6% is impacted by the closure of the Suez Canal and the delays in sailing ships around the coast of Africa: “So the Suez Canal in itself absorbs about 6% of global capacity today going around the Horn of Africa, injecting more vessels from Asia to Europe and also from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. “

This is “where the hiccups come into play. So, this is why vessel schedules change a lot, and it's a very, very fluid situation. Your berthing window goes through many, many changes from the proforma to the actual arrival of the vessel.”

Another complication raised by Bill Rooney, Executive Vice President of Kuehne + Nagel and Santucci, is that vessel speeds have slowed down to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, so it is not possible to speed up in case of delays.

Peter Friedmann, Executive Director, AGTC, asked Santucci to try and do more to alert exporters about delays. Santucci replied that MSC is trying to do what it can.