Shipping and logistics
When a port is congested.
Congestion means the port cannot handle what is arriving, so vessels wait, containers sit and schedules stop meaning anything. It is not something your forwarder can fix, and there are still decisions worth making.
What congestion actually is.
More cargo arriving than the terminal can move, usually because of a labour shortage, an equipment problem, a weather event or a surge after a disruption elsewhere.
It compounds. Vessels waiting to berth are vessels not on their next rotation, so a delay in one port propagates through a whole service.
It hits equipment as well as cargo. Empty containers pile up in the wrong places, which becomes a shortage at origin weeks later.
What actually helps.
Changing the discharge port, where an alternative exists and the inland cost is bearable. This is the single most effective move and it has to be decided early.
Booking earlier and accepting a longer transit rather than fighting for space on the fastest service.
Increasing free time at booking. During congestion, free time is worth more than a small rate difference and it is negotiable.
Telling your own customers early. The delay is happening either way and the relationship damage is optional.
What does not help.
Pressing your forwarder for a date they do not have. They are relaying the same information you are seeing.
Switching carriers mid-crisis. Everyone is affected and a new relationship at the worst moment gets the worst treatment.
Refusing to pay demurrage that accrued because the terminal could not release. Dispute it properly and in parallel, and do not let it stop the goods moving.
Reducing exposure next time.
Hold more inventory of anything with a long lead time and a hard deadline. Congestion is a recurring feature of container shipping rather than an exception.
Qualify a second discharge port before you need it, including a broker and an inland arrangement there.
Negotiate free time as part of the rate rather than as an afterthought, particularly on lanes with a history of disruption.
Keep your document set ready before arrival, so that when the terminal does release, nothing on your side delays collection.
Questions buyers ask.
Can I claim for a delay caused by congestion?
Carrier terms generally exclude liability for schedule delay, and marine insurance covers loss and damage rather than lateness. This is a commercial risk to plan around rather than to recover.
Should I switch to air freight?
Only if the value of the goods justifies it, and air is also affected when everything moves at once. Run the arithmetic on the specific shipment rather than deciding in frustration.
Do I still owe demurrage if the terminal caused the delay?
Often the charge accrues regardless and it is disputable in specific circumstances. Raise it in writing quickly, and keep the goods moving while you do.
Read next.
Demurrage and detention
Two different charges buyers confuse, both on a clock that does not care whose fault the delay was.
Why freight rates move
The rate from last quarter is gone. What drives container rates and how to buy against that.
Releasing your cargo
The container arrived and you cannot have it. What has to happen, in order, and where it stalls.
Getting it on a ship
FCL, LCL, own consolidation or reefer, and the five costs that appear after the freight quote. Written for an archipelago.
Sourcing from Indonesia?
Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. We come back with what it involves before anyone talks about money.