It is reported that bottlenecks at major container ports on the US east coast have caused global freight forwarder ships to be affected by delays of up to three weeks. This is a combination of port congestion, numerous ships and insufficient container storage space at terminals.

Global Freight Forwarder warned its freight clients in a customer update of considerable delays in container shipments at U.S. East Coast ports, with increased bottlenecks causing delays of up to three weeks in some cases.

Over the course of the last month, we have seen a change in operations on the North American East Coast affecting the wait times for our vessels at various ports.

The delays appear to be worst at the container terminal Newark PNCT, where global freight forwarders full of containers may have to wait up to three weeks for their cargo to be unloaded and transported further.

But Houston's port terminals also had delays of up to two weeks. In Savannah, delays ranged from 8 to 12 days, while Charleston had the least delay at 2 to 3 days.

This delay is mainly due to the increasing congestion of some ports, the increase in the number of ships compared to the terminal capacity and the shortage of terminal space (docks and warehouses near the terminal) caused by long-standing containers.