Delays test the resilience of Southeast Asia’s hub ports

The knock-on effects of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, followed by typhoon-related disruption at Chinese ports, are testing the resilience of Southeast Asia’s transhipment network.

In Singapore and Malaysia regional hub ports are responding to the challenge with capacity expansion, while Indonesia is pursuing plans to establish an international transhipment hub of its own, potentially adding a new regional competitor.

Vessel arrivals at Singapore have been significantly impacted since disruption in the Strait of Hormuz began in late February, as shipping lines sought alternative solutions for cargo destined for the Middle East. The Straits Times, citing supply-chain intelligence platform Portcast, reported that waiting times peaked at around 3.5 days in early March before falling to one day or less by the end of April, as high bunker prices prompted some carriers to slow-steam. By late June, however, PSA Singapore was again seeing a surge in arrivals as weather disruption in the Far East fed delays into eastbound services.

Congestion intensified in the third quarter of the year as typhoon-related disruption at Chinese ports fed into already delayed liner schedules. Xeneta reported that Singapore’s average vessel waiting time rose from 1.9 days to 3.1 days in September, while the number of vessels waiting nearly doubled from 12 to 22 per day.

This story was originally published by World Cargo News. Read the full story at World Cargo News →