Global carrier Maersk Line today warned its customers that congestion remains high at various world ports as new pandemic outbreaks impact the ability to move cargo.

In North America, Maersk noted that vessels seeking to berth in Vancouver needed to wait 14 days on average while inbound ships to Prince Rupert were experiencing 10-day waits before berthing. At the Port of Long Beach in California, vessel waiting times are listed as 38 to 45 days, while at Los Angeles they range from zero to 28 days.

“Unfortunately, 2022 has not started off as we had hoped. The pandemic is still going strong and unfortunately, we are seeing new outbreaks impacting our ability to move your cargo. General sickness remains high as key ports in key regions are seeing new Covid-19 peaks,” the shipping line said.

“We recognize that this is causing delays to our customers’ supply-chains and mitigating those disruptions is of the utmost importance to us. The situation is particularly challenging at several Hub Ports and Gateway terminals.”

However, there has been some recent easing in Northern Europe. The Port of Antwerp, Europe’s leading container port, is expected to reduce the wait to around two days this week from 10 days last week. (Photo Maersk)