Global vessel delays are effectively removing about 1.7m teu of containership capacity from the market, equivalent to roughly 5% of the worldwide container fleet, according to Sea-Intelligence.
Around 1m teu of that capacity is being absorbed above the level historically considered normal, showing how congestion can tighten vessel supply even when ships remain operational.
Sea-Intelligence calculates capacity absorption by combining the proportion of vessels arriving late with the duration of their delays. Its historical baseline for 2011 to 2019 puts normal delay-related capacity absorption at about 2.2%.
Using March data, the consultancy previously calculated that delays were absorbing an average 5.3% of global capacity during the 2023 to 2026 period, equivalent to 1.8m teu. Of that total, 1.06m teu was above the historical baseline.
Its June Global Liner Performance data showed worldwide schedule reliability falling 1.9 percentage points month on month to 62.6%, while the average delay for late vessels improved by 0.34 days to 5.31 days.
Operational congestion remains significant in several regions. Seven-day average vessel waiting times were about 13.6 days at Conakry in Guinea, 15.3 days at Beira in Mozambique and 5.55 days at Tema in Ghana. Congestion also remained evident at Genoa, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Felixstowe.
A.P. Moller - Maersk said in its second-quarter results that Ocean spot rates had increased significantly during the quarter, supported partly by tight capacity and higher port congestion in Europe, the Middle East, the east coast of South America and West Africa.
"From ports to inland transportation, we are seeing increased congestion and disruption across multiple geographies," Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc said.
The delays matter for freight markets because capacity trapped in disrupted schedules cannot be fully redeployed to meet cargo demand, effectively reducing available vessel supply without ships being formally idled.
Sea-Intelligence is a Denmark- and Singapore-based maritime consultancy providing data, research and advisory services focused on container shipping and global supply chains.