The tense situation of the global supply chain has not been fundamentally resolved, and port congestion is still the main theme of the global shipping industry. Coupled with the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the shipping market will face huge challenges.

In this context, many shipping companies have to cancel multiple voyages on some major routes, such as the trans-Pacific route and the Asia-Europe route. Among them, the trans-Pacific route has the most cancelled sailings, which is related to port congestion on the west and east coasts of the United States.

Congestion on the U.S. West Coast is shifting to other ports, with congestion expected to intensify in March and April, Sea-Intelligence said. Some experts pointed out that the congestion situation on the east coast is now on the rise.

Faced with this situation, many shipping companies choose to cancel their voyages to North American ports. Nearly 45 sailings were cancelled on the transpacific and Asia-Europe routes.

Not only that, but about 64% of the blank sailings will occur on these two routes. It is understood that between March and April, the three major alliances cancelled a total of 34 sailings.

As a major importing country, the United States needs to import a large amount of goods from other countries every year to meet its own demand for goods. Even in the face of port congestion, it cannot stop consumers' import demand.

This has made the port congestion continue to intensify, and now the LA/LB port is saturated, so a large amount of cargo will go to the NY port on the east coast for unloading.

Therefore, some shipping companies, such as Hapag-Lloyd, will consider skipping the NY port to relieve the congestion pressure of ports on the east coast of the United States and improve the reliability of the shipping schedule.

A large number of delays in the delivery of goods will lead to further increases in freight rates. Shipping companies will therefore likely increase freight rates on trans-Pacific routes in the following days, especially the Asia-US east coast route.

Sea-Intelligence predicts an increase in the number of ships scheduled to deliver cargo from Asia to North America in March and April this year, which will increase port congestion. Not only that, but the increase in the number of ships also increases the time for loading and unloading cargo.

GLA hereby reminds forwarding members that if there is cargo going to ports on the east coast of the United States, please pay attention to the latest logistics information in time to avoid delays in shipping schedules.