Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Partners,
Please find below our latest weekly update — 18 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): severe waterside and landside congestion continues, with equipment failures, high yard congestion and vessel delays of up to 21 days.
Mozambique — Beira: delays of up to 39 days, with terminal recovery not expected until weeks 40/43.
UAE — Dubai: congestion delays of up to 26 days amid ongoing Gulf security risk and network disruption.
Asia Pacific: schedule reliability has deteriorated sharply after successive typhoons, with only around 21% of vessels reportedly arriving on schedule at Shanghai.
South Africa
Air Freight:
Rates remain elevated. Further capacity strain and higher freight rates expected as peak season approaches.
Ethiopian Airlines faces on-forwarding backlogs on connecting flights from Addis Ababa.
SA Airlink have backlogs into Africa.
For Exports Ex-South Africa British Airways is upselling rates at time of booking due to capacity.
Backlogs out of the Far East due to typhoons in China persist but are easing.
Local and cross Boarder Road Freight:
All services running smoothly.
Sea Freight:
Durban Pier 2 (DGT) congestion remains severe, with equipment failures and vessel delays of up to 21 days; citrus export season is driving a sharp rise in reefer container volumes through all SA ports.
KwaZulu-Natal (Durban)
- Pier 1: 3-4 days; weather delays, expected to clear through the balance of the week — Moderate
- Pier 2 (DGT): 7-18 days; severe waterside/landside delays, equipment failures, high yard congestion — Critical
- Point: 0-1 days — Stable
Western Cape (Cape Town)
- CTCT: 0-5 days; one crane out of service, undergoing repairs — Moderate
- MPT: 0-1 days; operations stable — Stable
Eastern Cape (Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth)
- PECT: 0-1 days; weather challenges; equipment repairs ongoing, no completion timeframe — Moderate
- NCT: 0-5 days; weather related challenges further impacting terminal operations — Moderate
Africa & Indian Ocean Islands
Air Freight:
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:
⚠️ West African gateways face mixed conditions with rainy-season flooding risk, while Beira and Toamasina/Tamatave carry the region’s most severe congestion and inland corridor delays.
West Africa
- Namibia — Walvis Bay: 1-2 days; intermittent wind gusts expected for the entire week — Stable
- Angola — Luanda: 2 days; operations generally on schedule — Stable
- Ghana — Tema: 7 days; severe landside congestion; trucking shortages and high demand — Disrupted
- Ghana — Takoradi: 1 day — Stable
- Nigeria — Apapa: 4 days; elevated vessel queues; road congestion likely to persist through September — Moderate
- Nigeria — Tincan: 3 days; elevated vessel queues and berth delays — Moderate
- Ivory Coast — Abidjan: 12 days; equipment reliability issues, truck shortages; erratic schedule reliability — Disrupted
Indian Ocean Islands
- Mauritius — Port Louis: 0-1 days; strong wind gusts/high swells; approaching long-term capacity thresholds — Moderate
- Madagascar — Toamasina/Tamatave: 20 days; inland transport along the RN2 corridor remains critical — Critical
- Reunion — Reunion: 1 day; relatively stable operations — Stable
East Africa
- Mozambique — Beira: 39 days; terminal recovery expected by week 40/43; intermittent wind gusts and rain — Critical
- Mozambique — Maputo: 5 days; intermittent wind gusts and rain for the rest of the week — Moderate
- Kenya — Mombasa: 2 days; persistent vessel waiting times, truck shortages, customs bottlenecks — Moderate
- Tanzania — Dar es Salaam: 1 day; strongest performing gateway in East Africa — Stable
Middle East & Indian Sub-Continent
Air Freight:
Rates remain elevated & Capacity constraints across the region persist. 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 dwell times probable; truck congestion and gate delays — Moderate
- India — Chennai: 2 days; vessel delays and berth pressure; some recovery seen — Moderate
- India — Mundra: 2 days; congestion indicators reflect an overall improvement — Stable
- Sri Lanka — Colombo: 0-3 days; increased transshipment volumes; berthing delays across multiple terminals — Moderate
- Pakistan — Karachi: 5 days; some improvement, but volumes remain high with strong cargo demand — Moderate
Middle East-Gulf
- UAE — Jebel Ali: 12 days — Disrupted
- UAE — Khor Fakkan: 8 days — Disrupted
- UAE — Al Fujairah: 5 days — Moderate
- UAE — Sharjah: 2 days — Stable
- UAE — Abu Dhabi: 13 days — Disrupted
- UAE — Dubai: 26 days — Critical
- Saudi Arabia — Jeddah: 4 days; significant Customs clearance delays; warehouse capacity severely constrained — Disrupted
- Saudi Arabia — King Abdullah: 5 days; congestion remains elevated — Moderate
- Saudi Arabia — Dammam: 11 days; case-by-case planning due to security considerations — Disrupted
North America
Air Freight:
Rates remain elevated. All areas are running with some capacity constraints.
Sea Freight:
Escalating US-Canada tariff tensions and peak-season congestion continue to pressure major US gateways, while the Durban Gateway Terminal situation is disrupting vessel rotation on USA services into South Africa.
Canada
- Montreal: 1 day; port performance relatively stable — Stable
- Vancouver: 4 days; high dependency on stable rail network performance — Moderate
United States
- New York: 3 days; high terminal utilisation; vessel bunching, truck congestion — Moderate
- Savannah: 2 days; berth demand remains elevated; vessel bunching may pressure drayage — Moderate
- Los Angeles: 2 days; chassis availability and terminal turnaround times are a key risk — Moderate
- Long Beach: 4 days; chassis availability and inland rail fluidity remain a risk — Moderate
Latin America
Air Freight:
Rates remain elevated. All areas are running with some capacity constraints experienced on some routings.
KLM congested.
Sea Freight:
Panama Canal transit restrictions and seasonal export congestion at Paranaguá and Altamira remain the region’s key risk factors.
Argentina
- Buenos Aires: 5 days; port operations are generally stable — Stable
Brazil
- Paranaguá: 10 days; high levels of congestion and long vessel queues — Disrupted
- Santos: 4 days; seasonal vessel bunching, spillover into inland rail/road — Moderate
Mexico
- Altamira: 21 days — Critical
- Veracruz: 1 day; operations remain largely stable — Stable
- Manzanillo: 3 days; sustained import volume pressure; Customs and terminal constraints — Moderate
Europe — NW Continent, UK & Med
Air Freight:
With the ending of the summer holidays – peak season is approaching that is likely to add capacity constraints with higher freight rates expected.
Sea Freight:
Industrial action in Germany and Rotterdam, low Rhine water levels, and ongoing Red Sea/Mediterranean security concerns continue to pressure North European and Mediterranean schedules.
North-West Continent
- Belgium — Antwerp: 2 days; congestion improving; yard utilisation under pressure — Moderate
- Netherlands — Rotterdam: 5 days; strike action disrupted handling; low Rhine levels constrain inland transport — Disrupted
- France — Le Havre: 2 days; high yard utilisation; carrier network schedule adjustments — Moderate
- Germany — Hamburg: 3 days; industrial action; inland transport congestion, reduced barge throughput — Moderate
- Germany — Bremerhaven: 3 days; industrial action, disruptions lower than Hamburg — Stable
United Kingdom
- London Gateway: 1 day; relatively stable — Stable
Mediterranean
- Italy — Genoa: 5 days; increased import activity challenges terminal productivity; trucking/rail pressure — Disrupted
- Italy — La Spezia: 3 days; operations are largely stable at this time — Stable
- Spain — Barcelona: 2 days; general stable, but exposed to broader Mediterranean disruptions — Moderate
- Turkey — Istanbul: 0 days; localized congestion due to dense trucking environment — Stable
- Turkey — Izmir: 4 days — Moderate
Asia Pacific (incl. Oceania)
Air Freight:
Rates remain elevated. The fast approaching peak season will add capacity constraints and higher freight rates.
Sea Freight:
Successive typhoons have driven schedule reliability sharply lower across East Asia, with congestion at Shanghai, Ningbo and Qingdao expected to persist into China’s Golden Week blank-sailing period.
China
- Hong Kong: 1 day — Stable
- Nansha/Guangzhou: 3 days; high yard density (92-95% occupancy); vessel waiting times above normal — Disrupted
- Ningbo: 3 days; recovery expected to continue into late September — Moderate
- Qingdao: 3 days; significant vessel waiting times following multiple typhoon shutdowns — Disrupted
- Shanghai: 5 days; schedule reliability deteriorated sharply, ~21% of vessels on schedule — Critical
- Shekou/Shenzhen: 2 days; schedule instability, carrier omissions; restricted gate operations — Disrupted
- Xiamen: 2 days; congestion from typhoon recovery efforts — Moderate
- Tianjin/Xingang: 2 days; congestion from typhoon recovery efforts — Moderate
- Dalian: 2 days; congestion from typhoon recovery efforts — Moderate
South-East Asia
- Singapore: 2 days; increased transshipment demand; yard utilization elevated — Moderate
- Thailand — Bangkok (THBKK): 0 days — Stable
- Thailand — Laem Chabang: 0 days — Stable
North Asia
- Korea — Busan (KRPUS): 3 days; typhoon-related disruption; delayed feeder connectivity — Disrupted
- Korea — Busan (KRBNP): 3 days; typhoon-related disruption; delayed feeder connectivity — Disrupted
- Taiwan — Kaohsiung: 2 days — Stable
- Taiwan — Keelung: 0 days — Stable
Trade News
Transpacific rates hold near peak levels: Trans-Pacific spot rates were hovering around $7,600 per FEU to the US West Coast and $9,500 to the East Coast in early September, with fuel costs and Asian port congestion keeping prices elevated (FreightWaves, 8 September).
Drewry WCI ticks up on Golden Week blank sailings: The Drewry World Container Index rose 1% to $4,500 per 40ft container in the week to 17 September, driven by a 5-7% jump on Transpacific lanes as carriers manage capacity ahead of China’s Golden Week (Drewry, 17 September).
Red Sea capacity returning cautiously: Carriers are restoring more Suez Canal transits on Asia-Mediterranean services even as Houthi forces expand territorial control near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with Sea-Intelligence estimating over a quarter of Asia-Europe capacity will transit the Red Sea in September (FreightWaves, 15 September).
Key Articles This Week
- Ocean Trade Summary — Issue 32/2026 (SACO)
- Durban Pier 2 Congestion Deepens as ICTSI System Transition Strains SA Trade (Ubuntu Times, 16 September)
- DGT Still Running 30% Below Normal Throughput as Booking Reforms Await Rollout (EWC Logistics News Update, 15 September)
- Houthi Advance on Bab el-Mandeb Raises Fresh Red Sea Shipping Risk (FreightWaves, 15 September)
- Saudi Arabia Suspends Yanbu Oil Loadings as Red Sea Threat Widens, Pushing Oil to Four-Month Highs (MarineLink, 16 September)
- Drewry World Container Index Rises 1% as Carriers Manage Capacity Ahead of Golden Week (Drewry, 17 September)
And that’s it – as always, the Inter-Sped team is ready to jump for you!
Best Regards, Linda & The Inter-Sped Team
