According to a new performance indicator unveiled by logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel, four-fifths of global port congestion today originates from North America while cumulative container delays currently stand at 11.6 million TEU “waiting days.”

  A “normal” level of congestion at the 13 ports measured by the performance indicator would be under 1 million TEU waiting days, Kuehne + Nagel said.

The Seaexplorer Disruption Indicator is designed to measure port efficiency and offer greater visibility of port bottlenecks for cargo owners and their service providers. It draws on data from K+N’s Seaexplorer visibility platform, which shows 612 container vessels currently at anchor or drifting outside the ports of Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Savannah, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Rotterdam, and Antwerp.

“The trendline information provided by the indicator enhances the ability of our customers to predict and plan for likely future impacts on their supply chain and identify the best course of action,” said Otto Schacht, the board member responsible for sea logistics at Kuehne + Nagel.

The indicator — called the Seaexplorer Disruption Indicator — is designed to measure port efficiency and offer greater visibility of port bottlenecks for cargo owners and their service providers. It draws on data from K+N’s Seaexplorer visibility platform, which shows 612 container vessels currently at anchor or drifting outside the ports of Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Savannah, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Rotterdam, and Antwerp.

Observers consider that Kuehne + Nagel’s estimate that 80 percent of the global disruption is associated with North American ports is not a surprise, considering that terminals in the region have been flooded by record import volumes from Asia. (Photo Port of Los Angeles)