Beacon’s latest Port Performance Report reveals a mixed picture for global port operations, where some terminals show steady gains in performance while others continue to buckle under pressure.
From extended container dwell times in West Africa and the Caribbean to persistent slowdowns in ship turnaround times in North America, the data suggests that shipping and logistics professionals can ill afford to relax their guard.
Topping April’s list of most delayed ports is Chittagong (Bangladesh), where ships waited more than 4 days at anchor and containers remained in yards for over 9 days—a serious concern for South Asia’s export continuity.
Chittagong’s combined delays across anchorage, berth, and terminal operations place it as the month’s most congested port.
In West Africa, Tema (Ghana) and Lomé (Togo) are grappling with sustained container dwell times, each exceeding 9 days—a clear indication that landside operations are struggling to match vessel discharge rates.
North American gateways are also showing renewed strain. Kingston (Jamaica) posted one of the highest yard delays in the region at 9.1 days. Major US transpacific ports Los Angeles and Long Beach recorded total delays of 7.9 and 7.0 days respectively, driven largely by prolonged berth occupancy and yard inefficiencies.
These figures underscore an ongoing challenge in ensuring smooth cargo flows even when ships aren’t delayed offshore.
“Port congestion today is no longer just about anchorage queues,” said the Beacon analytics team. “April’s trends confirm that performance bottlenecks are increasingly shifting inland—to the berth, the crane, and the container yard.”
Beacon’s monthly report tracks over 100 global ports, benchmarking them across:
- Vessel anchorage waiting times
- Berth turnaround durations
- Container dwell time averages
- Monthly ship count snapshots at berth and anchor
- Regional breakdowns across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, MENA, and Oceania
Several ports continue to perform well. Barcelona, Gioia Tauro, Piraeus, and several Oceania terminals posted low or near-zero delays, highlighting best practices in operations and coordination.
For carriers, freight forwarders, port authorities, and BCOs, this data provides a critical lens for navigating ongoing volatility. With global supply chains still adjusting to geopolitical rerouting and capacity shifts, port-level visibility has become an operational imperative.
Download the Port Performance Report to explore detailed port rankings, regional breakdowns, and historical comparisons.
