Port congestion at the main Southeast Asia and Middle East Gulf hub ports have
reached new record highs in May, surpassing the previous highs during the
2021-2022 COVID pandemic. The worsening congestion is driven by the sudden surge
in cargo demand as well as continued disruptions caused by the diversion of
ships from the Red Sea with Singapore and Jebel Ali the most badly hit. Berthing
delays of up to 5-6 days have been recorded at the 2 key ports, resulting in
disruptions to vessel schedules