Container shipping’s return to the Suez Canal could crowd the ports along the Asia-Europe trade lane, as three services add the same Red Sea port in the same week and shorter Suez voyages start arriving in northern Europe alongside ships that still sail around the Cape of Good Hope.
According to Flexport, 131 percent of normal ocean freight capacity is set to arrive at northern European ports in the week of Nov. 16-22, with 40 percent of that capacity arriving via the Suez Canal.
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Flexport treats anything above 120 percent as a congestion risk, said Jannik Amstutz, the company’s senior manager of ocean freight, in a Tuesday webinar. The digital freight forwarder forecasts capacity to exceed 120 percent in three out of the next 11 weeks through January.
Some major ports in northern Europe are outpacing the average, including the two busiest on the continent. The Port of Rotterdam is seeing 145 percent of its normal capacity during the week, Flexport says, while the Port of Antwerp-Bruges should expect 151 percent. Other ports exceeding 150 percent normal capacity include the U.K.’s London Gateway and Port of Felixstowe, Bremerhaven in Germany and Le Havre in France.
Amstutz recommended shippers to communication with intermodal partners and warehouses as the volumes flowing into their destinations may increase on short notice due to vessels on the same strings arriving in north Europe at the same time.
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