Congestion Causes Delays at South Africa Ports
The South African ports of Cape Town and Durban are facing severe congestion, which has led to some carriers dropping port calls from their schedules.
This week around 100 vessels were queued outside of the ports waiting to be discharged. The Loadstar recently reported that these delays are costing the South African economy more than $5m a day.
Maersk and CMA CGM are two of the lines that have already confirmed the cancellation of calls due to the ongoing congestion. On some Asia origin routes, carriers are transhipping cargo over Port Louis, Mauritius to avoid mainstream vessels being delayed.
Congestion has been ongoing at the ports for some time, but has deteriorated recently due to equipment breakdowns and poor weather conditions. Durban’s terminals are currently the worst affected with delays of around 9 days.
The KM team are monitoring the situation and advise customers to check the current situation with us ahead of bookings.
