Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc says ports are to blame for the congestion hitting shippers this year. But ocean carriers now control nearly half the world's marine terminals, so how much of this is really down to a lack of port investment, and how much comes back to the carriers themselves?
Mike is joined by Eleanor Hadland, who leads Drewry's ports and terminals research and runs her own advisory practice, Hadland Maritime. They get into whether Vincent Clerc's numbers on port underinvestment stack up, why carrier terminal ownership is only going to grow, and why congestion is arguably a supply chain problem, not just a port one.
They then take a tour of the world's most disrupted trades: chronic congestion in Shanghai and Ningbo, low water and strikes hitting Europe's biggest hubs, the $15 billion scramble to build ports around the Strait of Hormuz after the closure that took Jebel Ali out of the world's top 30 ports, the Panama Canal's own water problems, and West Africa's paradox of huge investment alongside rising delays.
Guest: Eleanor Hadland, Senior Analyst, Ports and Terminals, Drewry Maritime Research, and Director, Hadland Maritime.
Thanks to Dimerco Express Group for supporting this episode. They are the best partner if you need a shipping or air cargo solution on the transpacific trades and beyond.
Topics covered:
Why Vincent Clerc blames a lack of port investment for global congestion. Whether carrier terminal ownership, now nearly 45 percent of global capacity, is part of the problem. Why Chinese ports are running at 85 percent stack utilisation with almost no buffer. Europe's low water, strikes and labour shortages. The Hormuz closure and the four country, fifteen billion dollar scramble to route around it. Panama Canal water levels and what they mean for routing decisions. Why West Africa keeps getting investment and still sees rising delays. What shippers should actually be watching over the next two years.
0:00 Maersk's Vincent Clerc blames ports for the shipping delays and congestion
1:00 Eleanor Hadland on Drewry's ports and terminals research and her career at Associated British Ports
3:00 Does Vincent Clerc's claim about 15 years of port underinvestment stack up
8:00 Ocean carriers own 45% of global marine terminals, are carriers profiting from the congestion they blame on ports
12:00 Port congestion in Shanghai, Ningbo and Southeast Asia, new terminals at Tuas, Port Klang and Pasir Panjang
14:00 Port congestion in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Europe, low water on the Rhine and labour shortages
18:00 Jebel Ali and the Strait of Hormuz closure, can Dubai's ports ever fully recover
19:00 The $15 billion race to build ports at Khorfakkan, Fujairah, Jeddah and Oman
26:00 US port investment at Savannah, Baltimore and Long Beach, plus Mexico's Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo
27:00 Panama Canal low water and how it is shifting container routing to the US East Coast
31:00 Port congestion in West Africa, Tema, Lome and the Durban Gateway Terminal in South Africa
34:00 Eleanor Hadland's three things shippers should watch over the next two years
35:00 Does chronic port underinvestment actually make Maersk more money
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