This resulted from the Houthis' bombardment of merchant ships in the Red Sea, which hampered the flow of cargo. The Red Sea is constantly under attack, therefore ship operators would rather take longer routes around Africa.
There are fewer actual journeys now that ships are making fewer port calls to avoid adding time to the already lengthy journeys. However, Singapore has developed into the primary hub on the cargo route, where cargo is delivered by one ship and then transferred to another to reach its destination.
The analytical firm Linerlytica said in June that port congestion around the world has increased to a record 18 months, with 60% of ships anchored in Asia. Ships carrying over 2.4 million 20-foot container units in total were waiting to load or unload at ports as of mid-June. Simultaneously, Singapore experienced a 22% increase in average cargo throughput from January to May.
source: reuters.com
There are fewer actual journeys now that ships are making fewer port calls to avoid adding time to the already lengthy journeys. However, Singapore has developed into the primary hub on the cargo route, where cargo is delivered by one ship and then transferred to another to reach its destination.
The analytical firm Linerlytica said in June that port congestion around the world has increased to a record 18 months, with 60% of ships anchored in Asia. Ships carrying over 2.4 million 20-foot container units in total were waiting to load or unload at ports as of mid-June. Simultaneously, Singapore experienced a 22% increase in average cargo throughput from January to May.
source: reuters.com