There are still more than $40 billion worth of container ships waiting to unload in the waters surrounding North American ports. But the change is that the center of the congestion has shifted to the eastern United States, with about 64% of waiting ships concentrated in the eastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico, while only 36% of ships waiting in the western United States.

Anchorages at ports along the eastern U.S. and Gulf Coast continue to be crowded with container ships waiting to unload, and there are now far more container ships lined up at those ports than in the western U.S. A total of 125 container ships were waiting to berth outside North American ports as of Friday, according to an analysis of ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic and queuing in California. This is a 16% drop from the 150 waiting ships in January at the peak of congestion in the Western Americas, but a 36% increase from 92 ships a month earlier. Vessels lining up near the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach have grabbed headlines for the past year, but the epicenter of the current congestion has shifted: As of Friday, only 36% of vessels were waiting to berth outside the U.S. port, compared with 64% of ships gather in ports along the eastern U.S. and Gulf coasts, with the Port of Savannah, Georgia, the most queuing port in North America.

With a combined capacity of 1,037,164 TEUs of container ships waiting outside U.S. and British Columbia ports last Friday, what is the value of all that containerized cargo? Assuming a 90% ship loading rate and an average value of $43,899 per imported TEU (average value of imported goods in Los Angeles in 2020, which is likely to be conservative given inflation), then these are outside the port The total value of cargo awaiting berthing and unloading is estimated at more than $40 billion.

According to Project44, a Chicago-based supply chain visibility platform that tracks monthly container volumes arriving in the U.S. West and U.S. East, the statistical report found that the June capacity to the U.S. East increased by 83% year-on-year, an increase compared to June 2020 177%. Capacity in the U.S. East is currently on par with the U.S. West, which is down nearly 40% from its January peak. Project44 attributed the shift to importers' concerns about potential disruptions to labor talks at the U.S.-West port.

As of Friday, MarineTraffic data showed that 36 container ships were waiting for a berth at the Port of Savannah off Tybee Island, Georgia. The total capacity of these vessels is 343,085 TEU (average capacity: 9,350 TEU).

The port with the second-largest number of ships in the US East is New York-New Jersey. As of last Friday, 20 vessels were waiting for berths with a total capacity of 180,908 TEU (average capacity: 9,045 TEU). Hapag-Lloyd said the wait time for a berth at the Port of New York-New Jersey "depends on the situation at the terminal and is currently more than 20 days." It added that the yard utilization rate at Maher Terminal was 92%, GCT Bayonne Terminal 75% and APM Terminal 72%.

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