Delays in container shipping from Asia increased in the first quarter of 2022.

Maritime data released by supply chain platform company E2open shows that the total time from booking to receipt for global ocean freight in the first quarter of 2022 was the same as in the fourth quarter of 2021.

For example, in one company, it took an average of 73 days to complete the maritime shipping process for cargo after booking a slot with a liner operator in April this year, nine days longer than the average for last year. It should be noted that one-third of the additional time added to the process from booking to customs clearance at the port of destination was due to delays in the schedule at the port of origin. In contrast, delays caused by supply chain congestion accounted for 44 percent.

While the global average of vessel punctuality was unchanged from the previous quarter, more delays were on the outbound routes. On Asia to North America route, transit times increased to 80 days from 77 days in the fourth quarter of 2021. E2open said that despite a slight decrease in bookings, transit times have increased by five days since the previous quarter, as ships continue to wait longer for berths. While transit time on Asia to Europe route decreased by 2 days to 79 days, it is still one-fifth longer than the same period in 2021. Since last quarter, the actual number of shipping days from Asia and Europe to North America has increased by five and four days, respectively.

Worldwide, the shipping sector is experiencing very significant port congestion and vessel delays.

The issue is exacerbating the severe scarcity of cargo, which is prompting carriers to cancel sailings from China at a time when these sailings might be bringing in record profits.

Los Angeles and Long Beach, the twin US ports, have been affected the hardest since they are receiving historic levels of imports at a time when COVID19 has cut the number of dockworkers and trucks.

Container ship wait periods are now frequently exceeding a week.

Carriers are being obliged to lengthen the round trip time of their services by at least a week in order to continue to offer weekly sailings, necessitating the addition of an extra ship for each service.