In recent months, the Red Sea crisis has forced many international shipping companies to choose to bypass the Cape of Good Hope at the southwest end of the African continent, and South Africa, as an important country along the African route, has encountered unexpected business opportunities. But with the sharp increase in the number of ships, the already existing capacity issues in ports along South Africa have become even more severe.

Recently, although container throughput at South Africa’s main gateway has improved, crane failures and severe weather have exacerbated delays at South African ports.

Recently, Maersk’s official website issued a warning, updating the latest delay situation at ports and terminals in South Africa, as well as the mitigation measures taken to address service delays.

According to the announcement, the waiting time at Port 1 in Durban has deteriorated from the original 2-3 days to 5 days. Even more serious is that the production capacity of Durban DCT Terminal 2 is far below the expected target, and ships need to wait here for up to 22-28 days. In addition, Maersk also warned that the Cape Town port has suffered significant losses, with its docks experiencing delays of up to 5 days due to strong winds.

Maersk also added, “Delays will be minimized through online actions and emergency measures, which will compensate for any delays in cargo arrival and export loading. After departing from South Africa, the vessel will sail at full speed to compensate for lost time and ensure timely arrival at the destination.”

In fact, as early as the end of November last year, congestion crisis broke out in South African ports, causing ships to wait an average of 32 hours to enter Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province, 215 hours to enter Port Nkura, and 227 hours to enter Port Durban, with over 100000 containers stranded outside of various ports in South Africa.

Friendly reminder, please pay close attention to the delay and impact of congestion on the transportation of goods to avoid unnecessary losses.