Port Congestion: What Suppliers Should Quote

Port congestion is back on the agenda of the port industry's own association, and the cost of it lands on the businesses that serve each port call. The International Association of Ports and Harbours meets in London this week with congestion on the agenda, according to The Loadstar (November 2026).

For a ship chandler, port agent, bunker supplier or repair yard, port congestion governance is not an abstract policy debate. It decides when a vessel berths, how long a launch boat waits, whether a bunker stem lands on its booked slot, and how many port calls a team can physically handle in a week.

What happened, and why congestion is called intractable

Ports are being asked to invest in resilience while still competing on capital returns, and The Loadstar frames that tension as the core difficulty behind congestion, ahead of the London gathering (The Loadstar, November 2026). The same week, container shipping and terminal operators under one parent were shown to perform differently, with Cosco's shipping and ports arms analysed separately (The Loadstar, November 2026).

The research literature treats congestion as a governance problem, not only a capacity problem. A 2021 study in IEEE Access modelled congestion governance measures at Shanghai port and identified four options: more transport infrastructure, multimodal transport, smart strategy and interconnection between systems (IEEE Access, 2021).

The measured cost of a day in port

Delay now has a price attached to it. A study in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy found that a one-day increase in congestion, measured as the average number of days a vessel spends in port, reduced containerised US agricultural exports by 2.5% in quantity and 1.1% in value, an effect comparable to an ad-valorem tariff of roughly 12% to 17% (Wiley, October 2026).

That finding matters to service providers because the shipper, not only the carrier, absorbs congestion cost. When a cargo interest loses value on every extra day, the pressure travels down to the agent and supplier expected to shorten the call.

Why congestion reaches the supplier's quotation

Congestion changes the physical conditions of a port call, so it changes what a supplier has to price in.

• Berth windows move. A vessel waiting at anchor or drifting has an ETA (estimated time of arrival, when the ship expects to reach port) that shifts, so a delivery slot booked for Tuesday may become Thursday.
• Launch and boat time rises. Crew changes, cash to master and spare parts all depend on a launch run that takes longer when traffic queues.
• Bunker stems collide. Two stems booked on the same barge window become a scheduling problem when one vessel is held off the berth, as covered in how bunker barge availability breaks when two stems collide.
• Repair and dry-dock plans slip. A yard slot lost to a late arrival pushes the next vessel in the queue.

Research on smart ports makes the same point from the port side: information and communications technology is used to improve vessel and container management, through applications such as information systems and locating systems (IEEE Access, 2020). Where the port has better data, the supplier can plan against it.

Congestion is arriving alongside other disruptions

This quarter's disruption is not confined to berth queues. Labour protests in Bangladesh's garment sector have halted production and disrupted cargo movements to Chittagong, threatening export deadlines and causing missed sailings (The Loadstar, November 2026). Workers at Chittagong have also protested a terminal deal with DP World, while Bangladesh signed a $336m loan with China to expand and modernise Mongla port (The Loadstar, October 2026).

On the US west coast, the Los Angeles and Long Beach complex faced potential disruption from around 250 security workers represented by the ILWU Local 26 as a labour contract expired (The Loadstar, October 2026). Each of these events produces the same supplier symptom: vessels bunching, then arriving together.

Shippers are not switching to air in large numbers when ocean schedules slip. DSV said disruption to ocean shipping is not triggering a large-scale switch to airfreight, because the cost of emergency lift keeps most shippers at sea (The Loadstar, November 2026). Cargo stays in the queue, and so does the work.

What maritime service providers should do

1. Quote in windows, not single times. Give a chandler or launch operator a delivery window tied to the berth, and state what happens if the vessel is held. The supplier work plan for congestion and demurrage sets out the sequence.
2. Watch arrivals days ahead. A vessel scheduled to arrive is a planning input; a vessel already at anchor is an emergency. The earlier you see the queue forming, the more room you have on barge and launch capacity.
3. Re-confirm the stem when the ETA moves. A bunker quotation built on one arrival time needs re-issuing when the berth window shifts, which is the process in re-quoting a bunker quotation after an ETA change.
4. Know who owns the delay charge. Suppliers who confuse the two charges argue about the wrong invoice; demurrage vs detention charges and free time sets out the difference.
5. Log why a call slipped. Berth delay, pilotage queue and labour action are different causes with different commercial consequences when you discuss the next stem.

Port agents carry most of this coordination, which is why the VesselReach workflow for port agents starts from expected arrivals rather than from the berth.

How VesselReach helps

Congestion rewards the supplier who sees the queue before it forms. VesselReach is built for that timing.

• Vessel intelligence for your chosen ports: VesselReach shows vessels near your target ports and vessels scheduled or expected to arrive, which means you can plan launch, barge and delivery capacity against a shifting ETA instead of reacting to it.
• AI company targeting and decision-maker discovery: VesselReach identifies the company behind each vessel and finds the operations, procurement or technical roles who own the call, which means your quote reaches the person who can confirm a berth window.
• Staged multichannel outreach with automated follow-ups: VesselReach runs email, WhatsApp and phone contact in sequence and follows up when there is no reply, which means a re-quote after an ETA change does not sit unanswered.

Book a VesselReach demo to see the workflow on the ports you actually serve, and use the 10-day free trial that follows the demo to test it against your own congestion season.

Frequently asked questions

Does port congestion affect ship chandlers and bunker suppliers directly?

Yes. Congestion moves berth windows and delays launches, so delivery slots, barge scheduling and re-quotes all shift. Research in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy found a one-day rise in time in port cut containerised US agricultural exports by 2.5% in quantity (Wiley, October 2026).

How should a supplier quote work at a congested port?

Quote a delivery window tied to the berth rather than a fixed time, state what happens if the vessel is held, and re-confirm the stem when the ETA moves. Build the plan around the queue, not the original schedule.

Is congestion only a container port problem?

No. The IAPH debate in London covers ports generally, and congestion governance research has focused on container throughput at Shanghai (IEEE Access, 2021). Bulk, tanker and ro-ro calls feel the same berth and launch delays.

How can a small maritime supplier plan capacity during a congestion spike?

Track expected arrivals days ahead, group work by berth window, and keep a written record of which calls slipped and why. VesselReach shows vessels near and due at your chosen ports so you can plan launch and barge capacity before the queue builds.