According to Linerlytica, 4.3m teu is now waiting to berth at container ports around the world. That figure tops the previous absolute high of 4m teu set during the pandemic earlier this decade — a period widely regarded as the most profitable in the history of containerization.
There's an important qualifier, though. Today's congested tonnage accounts for 12.6% of the 34.4m teu global fleet. That's still below the 15.7% peak reached in 2022, when the total fleet stood at just 25.3m teu. In relative terms, the fleet has grown enough to absorb more strain than it once could.
Much of the recent surge traces back to East Asia, where a run of tropical storms has thrown Chinese port operations and vessel schedules into disarray. Portcast data cited this week counted 139 vessels waiting at Shanghai and another 77 at Ningbo — the highest tallies seen across 2025 or 2026.
The knock-on effect for turnaround times is significant. At Shanghai's Yangshan terminals, waiting times have stretched to five or six days for Gemini services, and as long as seven or eight days for other carriers.
Sea-Intelligence, applying a different methodology, estimates that current delays are stripping roughly 1.7m teu of effective vessel capacity from the market. Schedule reliability remains stuck at around 60–65%. When ships do run late, they now arrive an average of five to five-and-a-half days behind schedule — up from three to four days before the pandemic.
The capacity squeeze is adding yet another prop beneath freight markets that were already inflated by the Iran conflict and broad disruption to normal liner networks.
Linerlytica calculates that the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) now sits 156% higher than when the Iran conflict began. The index climbed again last week to around 3,355 points.
Other benchmarks tell the same story:
Further pressure is building on the other side of the world. From September, the Panama Canal will reduce daily transit slots as below-normal rainfall triggers fresh water-saving measures.
Neopanamax slots will drop to nine per day from September 3, with total panamax availability set to fall further from September 15. For carriers already juggling stretched schedules, fewer guaranteed transits mean tighter planning and more exposure to delay.
The resulting shortage of ships is feeding directly into the containership charter market, where tonnage stays scarce and demand strong.
For forwarders managing ocean freight and project cargo, the takeaway is clear: capacity remains tight, rates are volatile, and reliable planning depends more than ever on trusted carrier relationships and close visibility over every shipment. Building in buffer time, securing space early, and leaning on dependable partners will be key to navigating the months ahead.
