Durban Congestion: Maersk Adds a Day of Detention Free Time

If you have containers heading through Durban, the vessel ETA on your booking is a weak basis for fixing truck and warehouse slots. Kuehne+Nagel’s 2 November update put average anchorage waiting time for container vessels at 7.46 days over the previous seven days, with 17 vessels and almost 85,000 TEU of capacity waiting. It does not expect meaningful improvement until towards the end of Q1 2027.

Maersk has offered some relief, adding one day of import detention free time at all Durban terminals through 31 December. But planning around that allowance takes more than arranging collection. Maersk’s South Africa terms include combined import detention calculated from full-container discharge until empty gate-in. Teams need to follow when each container comes off the vessel, when it becomes collectable and whether delivery, unloading and empty return can fit within the applicable free period.

Durban’s Delay Depends on Who Is Counting

Measure	Reading	Scope	Source
Average wait at anchorage	7.46 days	Container vessels, seven days to 2 November	Kuehne+Nagel
Average arrival delay	6.02 days	Container vessels, last 30 days	Kuehne+Nagel
Average departure delay	5.59 days	Container vessels, last 30 days	Kuehne+Nagel
Vessels waiting	6 in anchorage areas, 11 further offshore	2 November; almost 85,000 TEU of capacity combined	Kuehne+Nagel
Average wait at anchorage	About 12 days	Given in remarks on Durban Gateway Terminal, published 1 November	SAAFF, via Daily Maverick
Average port call	8 days 8 hours	12 to 18 October, from anchorage arrival to berth departure	Crickmay, via Freight News

Durban readings as published. Reporting windows, vessel sets and definitions differ, so the figures cannot be compared directly.

No single figure here describes your container. The 85,000 TEU represents the waiting vessels’ nominal capacity, not the number of TEU due to be discharged in Durban. Anchorage waiting, schedule delay and total port-call duration also measure different parts of the disruption.

The port-wide average also blends terminals with different problems. In its October update, Kuehne+Nagel reported berth delays at Pier 2, now Durban Gateway Terminal (DGT), ranging from roughly three days to more than a month depending on the service. Pier 1 was recording waits of around one to more than two weeks, with two cranes unavailable for a prolonged period. Separately, Freight News reported on 29 October that Transport Minister Barbara Creecy had counted 39 ships at anchorage on arriving in KwaZulu-Natal. Transnet told her only eight were waiting for DGT. That report does not break the 39 down by ship type.

One vessel shows how this reaches a booking. In its 2 November update, Kuehne+Nagel said the 9,326-TEU APL Charleston had been waiting off Durban since 21 October, with a predicted arrival of 4 November, about two weeks after joining the queue. The cost can land well inland. Zoeller Waste Trucks stopped production while it waited for six containers on two vessels that spent more than a month at anchorage, according to its managing director, quoted by Freight News on 28 October.

If your team is still working out South Africa delivery dates from the ETA on the booking, walk through how ops teams follow anchorage delays, discharge and availability per container.

Recovery Estimates Cover Different Milestones

Date or timescale	Who says so	What it covers	Condition
Around 17 November	SAAFF model	Hypothetical clearance of the existing queue at about 3,381 moves per day	Assumes no more vessels join. SAAFF says that will not be the case.
December 2026 to February 2027	Minister Creecy	DGT returning to its former performance	New equipment is expected to arrive in December.
Towards the end of Q1 2027	Kuehne+Nagel	Meaningful improvement at Durban	Conditions may fluctuate from week to week.
About 12 to 18 months	Arend du Preez, South African Freight and Logistics Association	Major changes, expected when new equipment starts arriving on this timescale	Industry assessment given to Daily Maverick.

Published scenarios and recovery expectations as of 2 November 2026. They address different milestones and do not establish a clearance date for an individual vessel or container.

The 17 November date is the easiest to misread. Jacob van Rensburg of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) describes it as a static-workload result, assuming no further arrivals. With new work arriving at about 3,246 moves per day, SAAFF estimates that clearing the backlog within 30 days would require sustained output of about 5,000 moves per day. DGT’s target is 3,400.

Some conditions have improved. Van Rensburg describes yard conditions as manageable, and DGT’s waterside throughput rose about 9% to 31,149 TEU between 19 and 25 October. He describes this as stabilisation from a depressed base, with no material reduction yet in the vessel backlog. Those results point to continuing waterside pressure even as conditions inside the terminal stabilise.

Seasonal demand may offer limited relief. Kuehne+Nagel notes that demand usually eases from late October through November, but it expects supply constraints to keep conditions elevated this year. Its Q1 outlook is a planning forecast, and individual shipments still need current carrier and terminal estimates.

Calls and Rotations Are Changing Too

COSCO split calls. Kuehne+Nagel’s October update described COSCO dividing some operations between separate visits, discharging first and loading on a later call. Some vessels were being directed to Durban’s multipurpose terminal, while other calls were discharge-only.
ONE Resilience on Maersk’s SAECS service. In a 20 October advisory reported by Freight News, Maersk cited Pier 1 delays when changing voyages 638S/642N to Coega, Cape Town, Durban, London. The advisory said imports would be delivered into Cape Town during weeks 43 and 44, with a provisional one-day export stack. Cape Town exports could move to the following vessel if time ran short. This is a dated example of a rotation change; current bookings need the latest carrier schedule and loading confirmation.
Possible diversion. Freight News reported on 28 October that Zoeller’s second vessel might discharge at Port Elizabeth instead, although that was unconfirmed. Aven Naidu of the PFS Container Division said diverted cargo would then need to be trucked more than 1,000 km to Gauteng, at extra cost and time.

Each of these can change something a planner assumed was fixed: the terminal, the port, the export sailing or the sequence of events on a single vessel. Check ETA updates alongside the carrier’s routing instructions and the actual loading or discharge events for each container.

Free Time Has Different Start and End Points

Days at anchorage do not use up free time on a charge that starts at discharge. As we noted in our breakdown of Durban’s charges, exposure to post-discharge charges depends on what happens after the container comes off the vessel. Terminal collection and empty return are separate deadlines to plan around.

Charge or arrangement	Published free period	Scope and clock	Validity
Maersk combined import detention	Announced increase from 4 to 5 days	November advisory covers import containers discharged at all Durban terminals. South Africa terms calculate detention from full-container discharge to empty gate-in.	Immediate effect from 2 November through 31 December 2026; advisory states a return to 4 days from 1 January 2027.
Maersk import demurrage at DGT	5 calendar days, up from 3	GP dry and NOR containers. The import demurrage period ends at full-container gate-out.	Effective 1 October 2026 until further notice.
DGT terminal storage	5 days, from 00:01 on the day after discharge	General-purpose containers on vessels berthing from 1 October 2026; the period runs until terminal gate-out.	DGT plans reductions to 4, then 3 days when operationally practical. The notice gives no implementation dates.

Selected published Durban arrangements. Equipment, destination and booking terms can provide different free time. Confirm which charges are billed separately and how carrier demurrage relates to terminal storage for your shipment.

Where Maersk calculates combined import detention from discharge, collecting the full container does not stop the calculation. The empty must be returned to the agreed location. Confirm the applicable last free day and empty-return instructions before arranging delivery, including the receiving site’s unloading capacity and the depot’s acceptance requirements. Maersk’s general tariff contains longer entitlements and different start triggers for some equipment and destinations, so obtain the shipment-specific terms.

Getting out of the terminal can still consume valuable free time. Aven Naidu said DGT’s landside dashboard for the first half of October showed about one in four trucks waiting more than two hours to enter the yard. Transporters also reported limited truck slots and long depot waits.

Late-December bookings need particular attention. Confirm which free-time period applies if a vessel discharges in January, and how Maersk will handle containers discharged in December but returned empty after year-end. If charges are later disputed, retain the container-level event record described in our guide to the discharge-to-availability gap, together with the applicable terms and evidence of collection or return constraints.

What to Recheck on South Africa Bookings

ETA movement. For each container on a Durban-bound vessel, compare the current ETA with the one you planned on. Check whether the vessel is at anchorage or further offshore, and obtain the latest expected berth and discharge timing.
Discharge terminal. Confirm Pier 1, DGT or the multipurpose terminal. Delays differ by terminal and by service, so a port-wide average is a weak basis for a delivery date.
Discharge port. Ask your carrier or forwarder whether discharge could move to another South African port, and price the inland leg before it is decided for you.
Export sailings. On split calls and short export stacks, confirm the current stack window and whether your container has actually loaded on the intended vessel.
Customer dates. Re-base commitments on the latest discharge and cargo-availability estimates, allowing for customs and carrier release, truck access and inland delivery. Kuehne+Nagel advises adding lead-time buffer while congestion persists.
Year-end free time. Ask Maersk how the 31 December end date applies when discharge or empty return crosses into January. Obtain the applicable last free dates for each charge. Confirm other carriers’ arrangements separately.
Empty return. Confirm the designated depot, acceptance arrangements and return deadline. For Maersk’s combined import detention, include delivery and unloading time in the plan through empty gate-in.
Truck and receiving capacity. Reserve capacity provisionally, then firm up collection against confirmed discharge, release and availability. Kuehne+Nagel expects terminals and depots to remain active for receivals through the December holidays, so check staffing, unloading and transport cover now.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long are vessels waiting at Durban?

Published figures differ by source and scope. Kuehne+Nagel reported an average of 7.46 days at anchorage for container vessels in the seven days to 2 November 2026. SAAFF cited about 12 days in remarks on Durban Gateway Terminal, published 1 November. Neither figure establishes the waiting time for a particular vessel.

When will Durban congestion clear?

Published estimates address different milestones. Minister Barbara Creecy expects DGT to return to its former performance between December 2026 and February 2027. Kuehne+Nagel does not expect meaningful improvement at Durban until towards the end of Q1 2027. For individual shipments, obtain current carrier and terminal estimates.

Does time at anchorage use up free time?

Time at anchorage does not consume free time for a charge triggered by container discharge. Where Maersk’s South Africa terms calculate combined import detention from full-container discharge, the period continues until empty gate-in. Collection alone does not stop that clock. Check the applicable start event, last free day and end event for each charge and booking.

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