Port Congestion | Week 44: Ships Waiting More Than a Week Off Durban. How Much Longer Will Congestion Persist at South Africa’s Key Ports?港口拥堵 | 44 周 line-up 德班港船舶等泊超一周，南非重要港口的拥堵还要持续多久？

Asian Ports: Operations Gradually Recover in East China, but Shanghai Still Has Backlogs to Clear

亚洲港口：华东港口逐步恢复，上海积压仍待消化

Kuehne+Nagel’s latest global port operations report, published on 3 November, shows that the average seven-day vessel waiting time at the Port of Durban has reached 7.54 days, with port operations still severely constrained.

Meanwhile, Beira in Mozambique and Conakry in Guinea, among other African ports, are also experiencing varying degrees of congestion. Several major ports across the continent continue to face challenges in terminal handling capacity and cargo flow. Durban is a particular concern.

11月3日，Kuehne+Nagel 发布的最新全球港口运营报告显示，德班港船舶7日平均等泊时间已达到7.54天，港口运营仍受到严重限制。与此同时，贝拉港（Beira）、科纳克里港（Conakry）等非洲港口也出现不同程度的拥堵，非洲多个重要港口正面临码头处理能力和货物流转效率的考验。其中，德班港的情况尤其值得关注。

Vessels Waiting More Than Seven Days as Congestion Persists in Durban

船舶等泊超过7天，德班港拥堵仍未缓解

Durban is one of South Africa’s most important commercial ports. It handles nearly half of the country’s container traffic and serves as a major regional logistics hub for southern Africa.

However, operational pressure at the port’s container terminals has remained high in recent weeks.

According to South African news outlet Daily Maverick on 1 November, the average anchorage waiting time for vessels at Durban’s Gateway Terminal (DGT, formerly Pier 2) had at one point reached approximately 12 days. Industry representatives from the South African Association of Freight Forwarders noted that, although terminal throughput had improved, the vessel backlog remained substantial. The recovery in terminal operations had yet to translate into a significant reduction in waiting times.

The latest operational figures show that the port’s average seven-day vessel waiting time still stood at 7.54 days as of 3 November.

This indicates that even as cargo-handling operations improve, the vessel queue will take time to clear.

德班港是南非最重要的商业港口之一，承担着南非近一半的集装箱货运量，也是南部非洲重要的区域物流枢纽。

但近期，港口集装箱码头的运营压力持续显现。

据南非媒体 Daily Maverick 11月1日报道，德班港 Gateway Terminal（DGT，原Pier 2）的船舶锚地平均等待时间一度达到约12天。南非货运代理协会相关人士指出，虽然码头吞吐量有所回升，但船舶积压仍然严重，运营恢复尚未真正转化为排队时间的明显下降。

从最新运营数据来看，11月3日公布的德班港船舶7日平均等泊时间仍有7.54天。

这意味着，即使码头作业有所改善，船舶排队问题也不会立即消失。

Durban Is Not the Only African Port Facing Congestion

非洲港口拥堵不止德班一处

Data published by Kuehne+Nagel on 3 November also highlights operational pressure at several other African ports:

• Beira, Mozambique: Average seven-day vessel waiting time was approximately 9.71 days. Terminal operations remain in recovery, while gusty winds and rainfall could cause further disruption.

• Conakry, Guinea: Average waiting time was approximately 7.38 days. Berths are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with each shipping line currently limited to one vessel.

• Tema, Ghana: Average waiting time was approximately 6.77 days. Strong import demand, high yard utilisation and a shortage of trucks are slowing container evacuation.

• Apapa, Nigeria: Average waiting time was approximately 4.67 days. Vessel queues, insufficient landside trucking capacity and customs procedures are all affecting cargo flows.

The causes of congestion vary from port to port, but the figures point to continuing pressure on terminal handling capacity, inland transport and cargo turnaround at several major African gateways.

For shipowners, charterers and shipping companies operating African routes, it is not enough to know whether a destination port is officially open. Actual berth waiting times, terminal productivity and the availability of local services also need to be taken into account.

从11月3日Kuehne+Nagel公布的数据来看，非洲其他港口同样存在明显运营压力：

贝拉港（莫桑比克）：7日平均船舶等泊时间约9.71天，码头仍处于恢复阶段，阵风和降雨可能进一步影响作业。

科纳克里港（几内亚）：平均等泊时间约7.38天，泊位按照先到先服务原则安排，每家船公司目前仅限安排一艘船舶。

特马港（加纳）：平均等泊时间约6.77天，进口需求较强、堆场利用率较高，加上卡车短缺，集装箱疏运速度受到影响。

阿帕帕港（尼日利亚）：平均等泊时间约4.67天，船舶排队、陆侧卡车运力不足及海关手续共同影响货物流转。

不同港口的拥堵原因并不相同，但共同反映出非洲部分港口在码头处理能力、陆侧运输及货物周转方面仍面临较大压力。

对于经营非洲航线的船东、租家及航运企业而言，不能只关注目的港是否正常开放，还需要进一步了解实际泊位等待时间、码头作业效率及当地服务资源情况。

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E-PORTS面向全球船舶提供在港服务支持，覆盖全球主要港口的信息查询、当地代理对接及海事突发状况协调等业务。

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