Source: Splash247
Date: 25th August 2026 

More than 4.3 million TEUs of container capacity are reportedly caught in port congestion worldwide, tightening available vessel capacity and adding further pressure to freight rates and schedule reliability.

Global container port congestion has reached a new absolute high, with 4.3 million TEUs of vessel capacity waiting to berth, according to Linerlytica.

That exceeds the previous absolute peak of approximately 4 million TEUs recorded during the Covid-era disruption.

However, today’s global container fleet is considerably larger. Congested tonnage currently represents around 12.6% of the 34.4 million TEU fleet, compared with a peak of 15.7% in 2022, when the fleet stood at approximately 25.3 million TEUs.

East Asia drives the latest increase. Recent tropical storms have disrupted Chinese port operations and vessel schedules, contributing significantly to the congestion.

Portcast data showed 139 vessels waiting at Shanghai and 77 at Ningbo, with waiting times at Shanghai’s Yangshan terminals reaching five to eight days, depending on the service.

The effects extend beyond vessels physically waiting outside ports.

Sea-Intelligence, using a different methodology, estimates that delays are removing approximately 1.7 million TEUs of effective capacity from the market.

Schedule reliability remains around 60%–65%, while late vessels are arriving approximately five to five-and-a-half days behind schedule, compared with three to four days before the pandemic.

Congestion adds pressure to freight rates. The capacity absorbed by congestion comes as container shipping is already dealing with disrupted liner networks and geopolitical uncertainty.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) has risen approximately 156% since the beginning of the Iran conflict, reaching around 3,355 points.

Meanwhile, the Platts Container Index reached $7,565 per FEU on August 21, its highest level of 2026, amid Asian port delays, space constraints and other network disruptions.

What This Means

• The immediate concern is not simply congestion at individual ports.
• When vessels spend additional days waiting to berth, they cannot return to their next scheduled sailing on time. That effectively removes capacity from the network, contributing to schedule disruption, equipment imbalances and pressure on freight rates.
• Shippers should therefore allow additional lead time, monitor port conditions closely and avoid relying on standard transit-time assumptions for time-sensitive cargo.

The latest congestion figures demonstrate an important distinction between fleet capacity and effective capacity.

More ships may exist globally, but when millions of TEUs are tied up by port delays and longer voyages, considerably less capacity is actually available to move cargo.

For supply chain planning, port congestion, schedule reliability and effective vessel availability are becoming just as important as headline freight rates.