Finance Association, April 24 (Editor: Xiaoxiang) Traders and shipping companies exporting to Europe may need to pay attention now: container ports on the western Mediterranean coast are currently operating at full capacity, and this may be the latest test facing the global supply chain, especially in Europe.

Obviously, the “culprit” behind this scene still has nothing to do with the Red Sea crisis.

As shown in the figure below, with the Suez Canal passing unhindered, container liners can smoothly travel all the way west and north along the Mediterranean Sea from southern Europe to any European destination port they want to reach.

But now, after a large number of ships on the Asian-European route have been forced to bypass the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, many ships that have experienced a long journey often choose to place containers in ports on the western side of the Mediterranean, and then the relevant parties then transport the goods to other southern European terminals through a short “feeder ship” (feeder ship) service.

This change in route has forced shipping companies to make new shipping arrangements for goods traveling between Asia and ports in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. Those Western Mediterranean ports, on the other hand, are in the midst of a “cramped box full of problems”...

According to port managers along the western Mediterranean coast, after the Houthis attacked the ship in the Red Sea, they were busy dealing with the problem of the depot filling up and waiting for the ship to dock.

The current “hardest hit areas” are the ports of Algeciras and Barcelona in Spain, and the Mediterranean port of Tangier in Morocco — these ports are rapidly surging in cargo volume.

Global liner giant Maersk (Maersk) recently warned customers that the port of Barcelona's “depot density” has increased because the port handles much higher than normal transit throughput. Maersk also said that the terminals in Algeciras and Tangier have also been affected.

Alonso Luque, CEO of TTI Algeciras, one of Algeciras' two container terminals, said that their facilities are currently quite full, and serious congestion has been narrowly avoided by limiting business volume.

Luque pointed out that due to insufficient capacity in Algeciras and Tangier on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar, some shipping companies have been forced to “go deeper into the Mediterranean” — to less convenient ports further afield. Some of the shipping companies have reached ports as far as Malta and the Italian port of Gioia Tauro.

Currently, although the port of Algeciras and the Mediterranean port of Tangier have not published throughput statistics for any year, the port of Barcelona's container throughput in February has increased 17% year over year.

At the same time, the phenomenon of “queuing” for ships before entering port is also beginning to appear. According to ship tracking data, some ships currently have to wait at offshore anchorages before docking at Algeciras and Tangier ports. This wait is usually a sign that the port is becoming increasingly congested.

Regarding the possible impact of port congestion on cargo, Daniel Richards, director of London-based maritime consulting firm MSI, said port delays may force some companies to hold additional inventory. One effect worth watching is whether inventory costs will rise as a result. Additionally, manufacturers' parts supply may also be at risk.