As congestion at East Asian and African ports worsens, Maersk has indicated that it may have to implement a "cut and run" strategy this week, making some tactical adjustments at transshipment ports.

On February 10, Maersk issued a customer notification on its website, stating that the company has noticed congestion at Kenya's Mombasa gateway due to "higher-than-expected yard density" and "equipment challenges." These factors are causing delays in vessel arrivals and departures.

According to shipping consultancy firm eeSea, Mombasa currently has 11 vessels in port, with 7 waiting to dock; nearby Dar es Salaam port reports 9 vessels in port and 20 waiting.

Maersk also mentioned that vessels coming from the Far East are experiencing delays due to long waiting times in Shanghai, Ningbo, and Singapore.

According to eeSea data, Shanghai has 59 vessels in port, with 19 waiting to dock; Ningbo and Singapore have 49 vessels in port, with 29 and 12 vessels waiting, respectively.

Due to these challenges, Maersk indicated that some details regarding port calls, sailing, and cancellations on the Mashariki and Mawingu routes may change this week.

The Mashariki route has a port rotation of Shanghai-Ningbo-Nansha-Singapore-Tanjung Pelepas-Mombasa, while the Mawingu Express route's port rotation is Jawaharlal Nehru-Mundra-Kasim Port-Salalah-Mombasa, returning via Salalah and Pipavav to Jawaharlal Nehru.

Maersk explained, "Our vessels on this route, originally scheduled to arrive on Thursday, will now dock on Friday, with further adjustments to ETAs due to waiting times, which may delay unloading of imported goods." Maersk stated that in cases where "not all containers can be accommodated," there may be "unexpected interruptions and operations" to meet the transshipment needs of transshipment ports. The company hopes customers will be patient, as they will prioritize arranging the next available vessel for shipment.

Peter Sand, Chief Analyst at global shipping market platform Xeneta, explained, "One strategy shipping companies have used to mitigate the longer sailing distances caused by the Suez Canal rerouting is increasing the use of regional transshipment services in Europe and Asia. These well-intentioned measures have had unintended consequences, leading to massive port congestion, with Singapore being at the center of this ocean supply chain storm."

He pointed out that congestion at Singapore's port has "risen again," meaning shipping companies will continue to view nearby Tanjung Pelepas Port as a "clear alternative," as well as Port Klang. Tanjung Pelepas serves as a key hub for the Twin Star network.

Sand warned that since July 1, the routes from Shanghai to Singapore and from Shanghai to Tanjung Pelepas have swapped positions three times, comparing which route is more expensive, and predicted that fluctuations between these routes could persist. "If shippers want to take advantage of carriers increasing their use of Tanjung Pelepas, they will have to pay extra for this privilege, leading to rate hikes."

Meanwhile, a strike by cargo workers in Bangladesh has also contributed to congestion at Chittagong Port. eeSea's latest database shows 11 vessels docked at the port, with 13 waiting to dock. Colombo Port has 10 vessels docked, and 11 vessels are waiting to deliver cargo to Bangladesh. The strike ended on Friday, so congestion at Chittagong Port may start to ease, but delays persist as the port works to clear the backlog of goods.