Four Mediterranean and Black Sea ports crossed into CONGESTED in the same two weeks, led by Constanta adding 48 hours of berthing delay. This edition covers the period ending August 9, and it introduces a change to how the index counts ports.

The Global Picture

The Tradlinx Port Flow Score (TPFS) composite reads 44.5 out of 100, sitting at the boundary of the BUSY band. The headline median berthing delay reads 9.1 hours.

Starting with this edition, the distribution counts only ports with recorded vessel traffic during the period. That means 699 active ports rather than the full 1,253 monitored, and the percentage shares are calculated against that smaller base. Ports sitting idle no longer dilute the figures.

Among those 699 active ports, 133 are CONGESTED (19.0%) and 137 BUSY (19.6%). Measured on the same basis, the elevated group grew by 7 ports against the prior period, with CONGESTED up 10 and BUSY down 3. That works out to a 1.1 point move in share, which the report characterises as about level with the previous two weeks.

The throughput-weighted view tells operators more. Across the top 20 ports by container volume, the TEU-weighted TPFS is 50.1, running 5.6 points above the all-port index. Congestion is concentrated at the gateways handling the most cargo, not spread evenly.

Regional Breakdown: Africa Deepest, Mediterranean Deteriorating

The regional split separates depth of delay from breadth of exposure.

West Africa again carries the deepest delays at 29.3 hours across 26 active ports, half of them CONGESTED. East Africa & Indian Ocean follows at 23.2 hours, with 10 of its 21 active ports CONGESTED.

Mediterranean reports 33 ports BUSY and 21 CONGESTED out of 108 active, at a 10.0-hour delay. The more telling signal is direction: four of this period’s BUSY-to-CONGESTED transitions landed around the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Northeast Asia reports 33 CONGESTED and 31 BUSY across 162 active ports, though median delay stays low at 4.7 hours. Southeast Asia runs an 11.3-hour delay with 19 CONGESTED.

North America is the standout for calm, reporting zero CONGESTED ports across 48 active and a regional TPFS of 4.8. Northern Europe holds at 3.5 hours.

Top Congested Ports: Volume Meets Delay

Hong Kong shows the largest vessel queue on the list at 106 waiting with 17 at berth, despite a modest 11.2-hour delay. It newly entered CONGESTED and carries a rising flag. High throughput with a long queue is a different operational problem from a small port with a long wait.

Yantian (Shenzhen) escalated from BUSY to CONGESTED, adding 26.4 hours to reach 36.2 hours with 66 vessels waiting. Tanjung Priok holds the highest composite score with 34 waiting at 31.9 hours.

Casablanca remains the deepest single delay at 131.4 hours and is still flagged rising, up from 104.3 hours in the prior edition.

Constanta on the Black Sea reached 64.3 hours, and Genoa and Trieste both moved into CONGESTED at 33.4 and 31.6 hours. All three are flagged rising.

Movers: What Worsened and What Eased

Worsening: Constanta led with a 48.0-hour increase, moving from BUSY to CONGESTED. Yantian (+26.4h), Genoa (+17.2h), Trieste (+14.5h), and Valencia (+10.3h) all made the same jump. Fuzhou and Ashdod shifted from STABLE to BUSY.

Easing: Manila posted the largest improvement, shedding 41.2 hours and dropping from CONGESTED to BUSY. Bingazi followed with 28.9 hours off. Dalian (-14.1h), Mundra (-8.8h), and Sines (-7.7h) all fell back to STABLE.

North American ports featured prominently among the improvers, with Vancouver, Wilmington, and Miami all moving to LOW. The Philippine cluster that dominated recent editions continued to unwind, while pressure shifted onto the Mediterranean and southern China.

Explore the Full Interactive Report

This post covers the highlights. The full report includes an interactive global map, detailed port tables, top-hub throughput analysis, waiting-time and slow-operations views, and berthing delay trends.

View the full Port Congestion Index report →

The PCI report is published biweekly, drawing on Port Congestion API coverage of 1,253 ports worldwide. This edition includes 699 active ports in the global index, with detailed port-level analysis across 91 key ports.

---

The Tradlinx Port Congestion Index is derived from the Port Congestion API, scored using UNCTAD criteria and queueing theory. From this edition, distribution shares are calculated across ports with recorded vessel traffic in the period (699 of 1,253 monitored) rather than all monitored ports, and the headline delay figure is a median rather than an average. Percentage shares and the delay figure are therefore not directly comparable with earlier editions; absolute port counts, individual port delay hours, and the period-over-period changes shown within this edition are unaffected. Data as of August 9, 2026.

Need help interpreting this disruption or your shipment?
For a quick question, chat with Tradlinx on WhatsApp. For a deeper discussion, book a time below.

Prefer email? Contact us directly at min.so@tradlinx.com (Americas), sondre.lyndon@tradlinx.com (Europe), or henry.jo@tradlinx.com (EMEA/Asia).