Record port congestion exposes maritime’s collaboration problem, says PortXchange

Record levels of global port congestion are exposing a deeper issue in the maritime industry, according to PortXchange. The company argues that despite rhetoric around collaboration and resilience, shipping parties often only react after vessels are already waiting. Currently, over 4.3 million TEU of container capacity is stuck in port queues globally, surpassing the 2022 peak.

However, this is a smaller share of total capacity due to the larger fleet. The latest increase is linked to storms in East Asia, but PortXchange warns against treating it as merely a weather event. Sjoerd de Jager, Managing Director & Co-Founder of PortXchange, emphasizes that port calls depend on various parties making coordinated decisions.

Delayed or fragmented information hinders disruption management. Drewry also highlights increasing waiting times and declining ship reliability. PortXchange argues that looking for a single culprit misses the point, as ports cannot control extreme weather or geopolitical conflicts. They stress that shared responsibility does not mean there's nothing the industry can do.

Better visibility and earlier coordination are key to reducing congestion's avoidable effects. PortXchange's EmissionInsider platform helps understand emissions from various activities, while its Synchronizer enables coordination among shipping lines, agents, terminals, and service providers. De Jager stresses that digital tools should fit the specific operational challenges of individual ports, not force a one-size-fits-all approach.

While ports cannot control weather or political events, they can choose to face disruptions with better information and earlier decisions, rather than waiting for queues to form.