- As can be seen from the chart, the bulk of this port time is taken up at the terminal, representing around 60%, while pre-berth waiting forms a much smaller 20%, on average.
- Nor have average vessel sizes changed much over this period.
- The steep increase in cargo exchanges is posing similar challenges for terminal operators as the prior spate of vessel upsizing.
According to Drewry’s latest Ports & Terminals Insight report, container terminal productivity in Northwest European ports has declined significantly over the last three years due to the challenges of handling larger exchanges, as carriers have consolidated port calls in the face of volatile cargo demand as reported by Drewry.
Pre-pandemic norms
According to a new Drewry AIS analysis, average call time at the major Northwest European ports surged by more than 50% in 1Q22 compared to pre-pandemic levels, before falling back to 37% over pre-pandemic levels in May 2022. According to Drewry’s analysis, average port time per call peaked at 2.3 days in February, which is 58% higher than the pre-pandemic 2019 norm.
Vessel call exchanges
As can be seen from the chart, the bulk of this port time is taken up at the terminal, representing around 60%, while pre-berth waiting forms a much smaller 20%, on average.
This contrasts sharply with the performance at the main West Coast North America ports which suffered from much more severe pre-berth waiting delays, which peaked at 4.3 days in October 2021 – representing over 55% of average port call duration, according to Drewry’s AIS-based analysis.
“Weaker demand recovery, uncongested alternative ports and established feeder networks have meant far less vessel queueing in European ports,” commented Drewry’s head of ports and terminals research Eleanor Hadland.
“But a spike in vessel call exchanges has created a much larger headache for European terminal operators.”
Exchanges increased
The deterioration in Northwest European port productivity has occurred despite weaker throughput levels than during the pre-pandemic period.
Traffic across the region’s four main ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven and Hamburg was 3.5% lower in 1Q22 compared to the same period in 2019 and the decline in the number of vessel calls was even steeper at 15.1%, according to Drewry.
Nor have average vessel sizes changed much over this period.
But Drewry estimates that average exchanges have increased markedly, rising by an average of 14% across the four main ports in the three years to 1Q22.
To counter the impact of volatile demand patterns and the risk of congestion, carriers have adjusted their schedules to reduce the number of port calls per rotation, leading to large increases in parcel sizes.
Terminal operators
Average exchanges increased by more than 20% in Antwerp and 12% in Bremerhaven over the three years to 1Q22, according to Drewry’s newest AIS-powered statistics. As a result, the productivity of both ports’ terminals dropped by more than 30%, as measured by days per 1,000 teu of throughput.
“The rapid increase in cargo exchanges is providing comparable issues for terminal operators as the previous round of vessel downsizing,” Hadland continued. “However, vessel upsizing was planned well in advance, but the cargo exchange ramp-up in 2021-22 proceeded considerably more quickly and with less notice.”
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Source: Drewry
