- Red Sea port calls dropped by -85%, severely impacting Jeddah and King Abdullah Port.
- East Mediterranean and Gulf of Aden saw major declines, with slow recovery in 2024.
- Vessel delays returned to pre-crisis levels, improving reliability across regions.
The Red Sea crisis, which started more than half a year ago, continues to severely affect the container shipping industry. Key regions like the East Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea itself have seen major declines in deep-sea port calls and changes in vessel scheduling reliability, reports Sea-Intelligence.
Impact on Deep-Sea Port Calls
The number of deep-sea port calls in regions close to the Suez Canal has been drastically affected by the crisis. Before the crisis, there was already a downward trend in East Mediterranean port calls, but a sharp drop of -22% occurred in January 2024. Compared to pre-crisis levels, the average number of calls in 2024 has declined by -33%.
Similar patterns were observed in the Gulf of Aden, where monthly calls fell from around 100 to 60-70 in 2024. However, the Red Sea has been the hardest hit, experiencing an -85% reduction in deep-sea port calls, with the average number dropping from over 200 to less than 40 by mid-2024.
Red Sea Ports Hit the Hardest
In the Red Sea, Jeddah and King Abdullah Port were the most impacted. Carriers completely stopped calling at King Abdullah Port as of January 2024. Jeddah, once a major hub, saw a dramatic -74% decrease in calls between December 2023 and January 2024, leaving it with only 37 calls per month on average, down from 135 pre-crisis.
Although there was a slight recovery in July 2024, the figures remain far from pre-crisis levels.
Decline in East Mediterranean and Gulf of Aden
The crisis also impacted the East Mediterranean, with ports like Piraeus and Port Said seeing significant declines in deep-sea calls. Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Aden, the port of Salalah witnessed a nearly -50% drop in calls between January and February 2024.
While some ports have seen slow recovery, the overall situation remains critical.
Schedule Reliability and Delays
Despite the decline in port calls, schedule reliability has improved in the Red Sea and East Mediterranean, returning to pre-crisis levels. The Gulf of Aden, however, is still behind in recovery.
Notably, the average delay of vessel arrivals, which spiked to 10-14 days in January 2024, has since reduced to the pre-crisis average of 4-5 days.
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Sea-Intelligence
