Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Partners,
Please find below our latest weekly update — 4 September 2026.
As always, the team and I are ready to assist with any Freight & Logistics queries you may have.
Critical Alerts This Week
Durban Pier 2/DGT congestion deepens further — delays now running 7-18 days with some vessels arriving out of window and sailings delayed as much as 21 days, amid an ongoing backlog from the NAVIS N4 terminal system migration.
Mozambique’s Beira port delay has surged to 30 days — the region’s most severe this week — with terminal recovery only expected by week 40/43.
A 48-hour German port strike (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven and other ports) ran 2-4 September, coinciding with a nationwide Dutch port strike on 4 September affecting Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Zeeland.
Typhoon Saudel continues to threaten renewed disruption to Shanghai (9-day delay) and Ningbo-Zhoushan as East China ports recover from Typhoon Dolphin.
South Africa
Air Freight:
General: Rates remain elevated with increasing rate pressure being felt due to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Capacity constraints experienced across Middle East affected lanes and some European areas. Capacity constraints continue on export lanes.
Backlogs encountered due to typhoons in China
European Summer holidays causing space capacity issues out of Europe.
Ethiopian Airlines faces on-forwarding backlogs on connecting flights from Addis Ababa.
SA Airlink have backlogs into Africa.
KLM facing backlogs into Africa & South America.
Local and cross Boarder Road Freight:
All services running smoothly
Sea Freight:
⚠️ Durban Pier 1 and Pier 2/DGT delays remain the dominant local risk this week — congestion and forecast strong winds have led some carriers to omit Durban entirely and discharge containers at Coega instead — with citrus-season reefer volumes adding further pressure at Cape Town.
KwaZulu-Natal (Durban)
- Pier 1: 3-4 days; two cranes on long breakdown; weather delays expected — Disrupted
- Pier 2 (DGT): 7-18 days; severe waterside & landside delays continue; vessels arriving out of window — Critical
- Point: 0-1 days; operations stable — Stable
Western Cape (Cape Town)
- CTCT: 0-6 days; strong wind expected Thursday 3rd & Saturday 5th — Moderate
- MPT: 0-1 days; one crane out of service under repair; operations stable — Stable
Eastern Cape (Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth)
- PECT: 0-5 days; strong winds forecast Wednesday 3rd & Sunday — Moderate
- NCT: 0-2 days; strong winds and high swells continuing into the weekend — Moderate
Africa & Indian Ocean Islands
Air Freight:
General: Rates remain elevated with increasing rate pressure being felt due to the situation in the Middle East. Capacity constraints continue on export lanes.
Ethiopian Airlines is sitting with backlogs of 5 to 7 days Ex-Addis Ababa.
SA Airlink faces Congestion into Africa.
Sea Freight:
Nigeria remains the region’s primary congestion hotspot, Beira’s delay has surged sharply, and Madagascar’s inland constraints round out the main African watch items this week.
West Africa
- Namibia — Walvis Bay: 0-4 days; intermittent wind gusts expected for the entire week — Stable
- Angola — Luanda: 8 days; operations generally on schedule — Moderate
- Ghana — Tema: 6 days; risk of schedule slippage on feeder services; severe landside congestion — Moderate
- Ghana — Takoradi: 6 days; same regional landside pressure — Moderate
- Nigeria — Apapa: 3 days; vessel waiting times of 14-21 days at anchorage; congestion likely through September — Disrupted
- Nigeria — Tincan: 4 days; same regional congestion and truck turnaround issues — Disrupted
- Ivory Coast — Abidjan: 11 days; yard utilisation near critical at ~93%; erratic schedule reliability — Critical
Indian Ocean Islands
- Mauritius — Port Louis: 0-1 days; strong winds and high swell expected week 36 — Stable
- Madagascar — Toamasina: 2 days; port congestion and elevated container dwell times; inland distribution constrained — Moderate
- Reunion: 1 days; relatively stable operations — Stable
East Africa
- Mozambique — Beira: 30 days; terminal recovery expected week 40/43; intermittent wind and rain — Critical
- Mozambique — Maputo: 2 days; intermittent wind gusts and rain for the rest of the week — Moderate
- Kenya — Mombasa: 3 days; elevated vessel waiting times; principal East Africa congestion hotspot — Disrupted
- Tanzania — Dar es Salaam: 4 days; rising cargo volumes from diversions; increased customs processing — Moderate
Middle East & Indian Sub-Continent
Air Freight:
General: Rates remain elevated, with mounting upward pressure due to situation in the Middle East. Capacity constraints across the region persist, placing additional strain on available airfreight space and supporting higher freight rates.
Further pressure may still emerge if there are more Sea to Air conversions resulting from India, where port congestion and shipment backlogs have been a serious challenge.
Sea Freight:
⚠️ India-SA capacity remains critical and Colombo transshipment pressure continues, while Jeddah is this week’s primary Middle East congestion hotspot amid ongoing Gulf security and network disruption.
Indian Sub-Continent
- India — Nhava Sheva: 2 days; elevated terminal density; congestion surcharges, detention risk and equipment shortages — Disrupted
- India — Chennai: 2 days; terminal relatively stable; weather is primary operational factor — Moderate
- India — Mundra: 2 days; elevated terminal density; congestion surcharges and equipment shortages — Disrupted
- Sri Lanka — Colombo: 0-2 days; high transshipment volumes; high risk of delay from feeder schedule volatility — Disrupted
- Pakistan — Karachi: 3 days; increased regional cargo redistribution; vessel bunching risk — Moderate
Middle East-Gulf
- UAE — Jebel Ali: 13 days; increased customs compliance & manifest filing extending clearance — Critical
- UAE — Khor Fakkan: 9 days; elevated transshipment pressure on terminal capacity — Disrupted
- UAE — Al Fujairah: 9 days; elevated transshipment pressure on terminal capacity — Disrupted
- UAE — Sharjah: 2 days; operations stable — Stable
- UAE — Abu Dhabi: 1 days; operations stable — Stable
- UAE — Dubai: 9 days; elevated transshipment pressure on terminal capacity — Disrupted
- Saudi Arabia — Jeddah: 8 days; trucking shortages and customs inspection delays between Jeddah and Riyadh; vessel berth delays of up to 14 days during peak periods — Disrupted
- Saudi Arabia — King Abdullah: 3 days; vessel schedule instability and reduced reliability — Moderate
- Saudi Arabia — Dammam: 3 days; increased freight costs — Moderate
North America
Air Freight:
General: Rates remain elevated, with mounting upward pressure as the situation in the Middle East continues. All areas are running with some capacity constraints.
Sea Freight:
Vessel schedule reliability, terminal utilisation at major US ports, trucking capacity constraints and rail network performance remain the main North American watch items this week, alongside volatility linked to geopolitical developments and changing tariff environments.
Canada
- Montreal: 2 days; seasonal volume fluctuations influencing terminal productivity — Stable
- Vancouver: 3 days; stable operations; high dependency on rail network performance — Moderate
United States
- New York: 3 days; truck congestion and warehouse demand affecting inland distribution — Moderate
- Savannah: 3 days; berth demand remains elevated — Moderate
- Los Angeles: 3 days; inland trucking and chassis availability impacting cargo movement — Moderate
- Long Beach: 2 days; high terminal utilisation levels — Stable
Latin America
Air Freight:
General: Rates remain elevated, with mounting upward pressure due to the situation in the Middle East. All areas are running with some capacity constraints experienced on some routings.
KLM congested.
Sea Freight:
⚠️ Brazil congestion and vessel waiting times, and sustained pressure on Mexico’s Pacific gateways from nearshoring-related imports, are the main Latin American watch items this week; Chile, Peru, Colombia and Argentina remain broadly stable.
Argentina
- Buenos Aires: 9 days; port operations generally stable; extended lead times on documentation complexity — Disrupted
Brazil
- Paranagua: 10 days; high levels of congestion and long vessel queues — Critical
- Santos: 3 days; high terminal capacity, with longer dwell periods reported — Moderate
Mexico
- Altamira: 3 days; part of sustained Pacific-gateway pressure from nearshoring-related imports — Moderate
- Veracruz: 2 days; elevated yard congestion and customs clearance delays on high throughput volumes — Moderate
- Manzanillo: 5 days; trucking congestion and inland distribution are major bottlenecks — Disrupted
Europe — NW Continent, UK & Med
Air Freight:
Capacity constraints due to the EU summer holidays decreasing as the summer holidays draw to a close.
Situation in the Middle East continues to put upward pressure on rates.
Sea Freight:
⚠️ Rhine low water (easing after recent rainfall), North European yard congestion and Mediterranean schedule volatility remain the main European risk factors; NW Continent ports faced a 48-hour dockworker strike 2-4 September (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Emden, Brake), coinciding with a nationwide Dutch port strike on 4 September (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Zeeland).
North-West Continent
- Germany — Hamburg: 1 days; HHLA Altenwerder crane modernization continues through September; additional disruption from 2-4 September dockworker strike — Moderate
- Germany — Bremerhaven: 1 days; additional pressure as Hamburg modernization continues; affected by 2-4 September strike action — Moderate
- Belgium — Antwerp: 3 days; high yard utilisation; inland barge congestion affecting evacuation — Moderate
- Netherlands — Rotterdam: 3 days; high yard utilisation and vessel bunching; inland barge delays; affected by 4 September nationwide strike — Moderate
- France — Le Havre: 1 days; high yard utilisation; carrier network schedule adjustments — Stable
United Kingdom
- London Gateway: 1 days; relatively stable; carrier schedule adjustments and increased feeder disruptions — Stable
Mediterranean
- Italy — Genoa: 7 days; exposed to transshipment and feeder network disruptions; inland trucking and rail coordination challenges — Disrupted
- Italy — La Spezia: 2 days; exposed to transshipment and feeder network disruptions — Moderate
- Spain — Barcelona: 1 days; generally stable, exposed to broader Mediterranean schedule disruptions — Stable
- Turkey — Istanbul: 1 days; localized congestion due to dense trucking environment — Stable
- Turkey — Izmir: 1 days; ongoing carrier service adjustments across major Turkish ports — Stable
Asia Pacific (incl. Oceania)
Air Freight:
Rates remain elevated, with mounting pressure due to the situation in the Middle East. With Typhoon Saudel causing disruptions in port and airport operations, capacity issues leading to higher freight rates are expected.
Sea Freight:
Typhoon Saudel’s landfall in Zhejiang threatens renewed disruption to Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan as they recover from Typhoon Dolphin; East China congestion and schedule reliability remain the main watch items.
China
- Hong Kong: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
- Nansha/Guangzhou: 1 days; significant vessel bunching; elevated yard density and berth waiting times — Moderate
- Ningbo: 4 days; landside truck capacity pressured by accumulated cargo volumes — Disrupted
- Qingdao: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
- Shanghai: 9 days; typhoon-induced terminal shutdowns; substantial vessel and cargo backlogs; high transshipment connection risk — Critical
- Shekou/Shenzhen: 1 days; cargo diversions from affected northern gateways creating localised pressure — Stable
- Xiamen: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
- Tianjin/Xingang: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
- Dalian: 3 days; schedule recovery continuing following recent disruption — Moderate
South-East Asia
- Singapore: 2 days; increased transshipment volumes; extended feeder transit variability — Moderate
- Thailand — Bangkok: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
- Thailand — Laem Chabang: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
North Asia
- Korea — Busan (KRPUS): 3 days; carrier network adjustments; some vessel bunching — Moderate
- Korea — Busan (KRBNP): 3 days; carrier network adjustments; some vessel bunching — Moderate
- Taiwan — Kaohsiung: 2 days; operations tracking regional norms — Moderate
- Taiwan — Keelung: 1 days; operations tracking regional norms — Stable
Trade News
Durban Gateway Terminal: Vessel waiting times at DGT have stretched to 8-12 days at berth following the NAVIS N4 terminal system migration, with SAAFF escalating what it describes as an “operational crisis” to the South African Presidency.
North Europe port strikes: A 48-hour German dockworker strike (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven and other ports) running 2-4 September coincided with a nationwide Dutch strike on 4 September affecting Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Zeeland.
Transpacific rates: US West Coast and East Coast spot rates rose 2.59% and 3.57% week-on-week as carriers pushed through a 1 September General Rate Increase, supported by typhoon-related congestion in China and tightened Panama Canal transit slots.
Key Articles This Week
Ocean Trade Summary — Issue 31/2026 (SACO)
Primary weekly sea-freight and port-delay input for this issue.
NAVIS N4 Rollout Leaves Durban Gateway Fighting Operational Backlog (WorldCargo News, 27 August)
SAAFF reports average vessel waiting times reaching 166 hours at anchorage plus 116 hours at berth following DGT’s terminal operating system migration.
German Ports Disrupted by Strikes as Dutch Dockworkers Prepare to Walk Out (WorldCargo News, 3 September)
A new 48-hour warning strike affecting Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Emden and Brake follows the breakdown of ver.di wage talks with German seaport operators.
Transpacific Rates Advance into September on Tight Capacity and Canal Constraints (RS Logistics, 1 September)
Carriers implemented a 1 September General Rate Increase as Panama Canal transit slots tighten and typhoon-related congestion in China persists.
And that’s it – As always the Inter-Sped team is ready to jump for you!
Best Regards,
JJ & The Inter-Sped team
