In Piraeus the largest ‘queues’ of ships in Europe

By George George

The port of Piraeus has been facing a “perfect storm” lately, resulting in delays in the service of ships.

The mobilizations of the previous weeks, the weather conditions and the crisis in the supply chain have brought unprecedented conditions in the port infrastructure.

According to information shared with Capital.gr, the Danish shipping and logistics information house, eeSea, until yesterday, outside Piraeus, were waiting for 12 containerships, more than any other port in Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and the coasts of North Africa.

EeSea calculates congestion at ports, based on the number of ships waiting within the port infrastructure and the port mooring capacity.

With this fact, Piraeus is included in the top three ports in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean with the largest congestion. In particular, in Piraeus, in addition to the 12 containerships waiting at the anchorage, there are 11 more such steamers inside the piers, numbers that increase the congestion rate at the port to 52%. In the Spanish Alchethira, the corresponding percentage is 59% and in the Turkish port of Mersin 57%.

The largest Greek port seems to be facing more problems today than the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg, which are also the top container-based containers in Europe.

Competent sources explain in Capital.gr that in Rotterdam and Antwerp many ships could not wait, due to the shallow waters, so they were placed on the South West of England, until they got the “ok” and headed to one of the two ports. However, again the congestion rates in these ports are at much lower levels than those of Piraeus.

Significant delays

At the same time, six tankers and a passenger ship are to be added to the mooring containerships, as indicated by the details of the MarineTraffic shipping portal, which Capital.gr. The same data show that from 16 to 20 December, 34 ships are expected to arrive at the port.

These “queues” of ships lead to delays. MarineTraffic calculated the average waiting time of containerships at the anchorage of Piraeus at 1.7 days, in the week of December 6-12. The maximum waiting time for a containership before calling the port was 8 days and 6 hours. It is encouraging that in the week of November 29 – December 5, the corresponding average time was 2.6 days.

However, as the portal explains, in September and October, the average waiting time for container vessels was less than one day.

Multifaceted effects

Of course, this situation in Piraeus raises concerns in view of the festive season. “If the port operates unexpectedly from now on, the situation will gradually improve and there will be no supply problems in the market,” reassure, through Capital.gr, sources with knowledge of the port procedures.

However, they emphasize that the consequences for the domestic economy will not disappear. Initially, importers, who lost products as some ships left or avoided Piraeus and approached neighboring ports, may transfer the hassle to prices, affecting the final consumer.

At the same time, exporters who have been unable to transport their products abroad due to problems and have lost contracts will be forced to take measures such as reducing production or not hiring seasonal workers, for example, causing other consequences. in economy.