The pileup in Singapore has eased somewhat “but only because vessels are omitting calls at the port,” according to Tan Hua Joo, a container market analyst at Linerlytica. Some were diverted to Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia “and this has shifted part of the congestion there,” he said in an email.
Port congestion in some of Asia’s busiest trade hubs may persist into August, as ships diverting away from the region’s most clogged maritime gateways cause bottlenecks at others.
Singapore, the world’s busiest transshipment center, for weeks has dealt with longer-than-usual lines of vessels waiting for berth space. Among the reasons: ships sailing the long way around Africa to and from Europe — avoiding Houthi attacks in the Red Sea — are stopping at fewer Asian ports and processing more cargo through Singapore.
