Recent data from Beacon has indicated a sharp rise in container dwell times across ports in North and South America and Europe in May.
Kingston, Jamaica, recorded the highest dwell time, with containers staying over 12 days, highlighting significant yard fluidity issues.
This trend underscores broader concerns about declining cargo throughput efficiency in the region.
In Asia, Chittagong and Bangladesh continued to face severe operational delays, with vessels waiting more than 71 hours to berth due to prolonged berth operations and persistent anchorage congestion.
This marks the second consecutive month the port has ranked among the least efficient globally.
In South America, Colón (Panama) and Cartagena (Colombia) emerged as congestion points, not due to vessel delays offshore but due to slow yard movements. Average container dwell times exceeded 9 and 8.5 days, respectively.
READ: San Pedro Bay rail-cargo dwell time rises amid demand surge
In Africa, Durban posted the longest average berth stay in May at 3.8 days, while containers in Mombasa remained in port for over 4.5 days, raising concerns about bottlenecks in East Africa’s primary trade hub.
Optimism remains around South Africa’s ongoing port reforms under Transnet’s recovery plan.
Taipei, in contrast, reported the shortest ship turnaround time globally, averaging just 0.38 days at berth.
The Beacon analytics team stated: “We are seeing a shift in delay patterns – where the issue is no longer just ships waiting at sea, but terminals struggling to move boxes off the yard. That is where the bottleneck now lives.”
