One of the key areas to understanding disruption and port activity is congestion. At its basis, the subject of congestion seems simple enough - is a port congested? Is activity slowed down due to congestion? And what is causing it?
However, the concept of congestion in ports is complex. Many metrics and approaches need to be considered if we want to get a relevant notion of congestion for a specific port, including areas like seasonality, social disruptions, weather and geopolitical events or the actual port’s specificities.
What is the base definition of “Port Congestion”
Port congestion refers to a situation where vessels experience delays at a port due to limited capacity, inefficiencies, or disruptions in operations. This phenomenon occurs when the demand for port services exceeds the available infrastructure and resources, leading to bottlenecks in the movement of cargo. Congestion can happen at different stages, including vessel anchorage, berthing, loading/unloading, and inland transportation.
However, there is no universally accepted definition of port congestion, as it varies based on the perspective of different stakeholders:
- For shipping lines, congestion means extended waiting times for berths.
- For terminal operators, it can refer to yard congestion due to high container dwell times.
- For cargo owners and supply chain managers, congestion results in longer transit times and increased logistics costs.
What are the challenges in defining and measuring Port Congestion?
Accurately assessing port congestion is complex due to several factors:
- Variability in Port Operations – Ports operate under different governance structures, policies, and operational strategies, making standardization difficult. They are also subject to seasonality, and local aspects like holiday seasons.
- Data Fragmentation – Data that can be used to ascertain port congestion is often spread across multiple sources, including port authorities, vessel tracking systems, and supply chain platforms.
- External Disruptions – Congestion can be caused by external factors such as adverse weather, labor strikes, geopolitical issues, or unexpected demand surges (e.g., pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions, port accidents, wars).
- Different Congestion Thresholds – Some ports may be considered congested at a 2-day wait, while others routinely handle longer delays without major issues. This is intrinsically connected with the previous points. So what constitutes congestion in one port, might be perfectly normal operating metrics in another.
What are the metrics that can be used to measure port congestion?
In order to start getting a sense of port congestion, a number of metrics can be collected, processed and analyzed over time. These can include:
Vessel-Related Metrics: