August 14th, 2025 – Northern Europe’s container ports are facing mounting congestion, with deep-sea terminals running at high utilization levels and likely to endure bottlenecks for years.
Persistent delays across the region’s largest gateways have slowed ship turnarounds and eroded schedule reliability. After peaking at 45% in 2025, on-time performance on the Asia–North Europe trade lane fell to just 28% in July, according to visibility provider eeSea.
“This is the result of terminal capacity being added over the last 15 to 20 years at a slower pace than market growth,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told analysts during the carrier’s Q2 earnings call. He warned port congestion could remain an issue “for a few years,” citing “general undercapacity” across European gateways. Maersk is expanding terminal capacity in Rotterdam and preparing to open a new facility in Croatia, but Clerc noted that relief will take time.
Antwerp-Bruges, Europe’s second-busiest container port, flagged severe landside space shortages in its first-half report, saying marine terminals were under “heavy strain.”
Bottlenecks are being compounded by the deployment of larger vessels on Asia–North Europe routes, which increase average container exchanges and cargo peaks at yards. Capacity management measures such as blank sailings and rerouting ships via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea are also impacting terminal productivity.
Landside constraints further exacerbate delays, with low Rhine water levels limiting barge capacity and ongoing rail capacity and reliability issues. Road haulage remains an alternative but risks pushing even more pressure onto already stretched transport links.
“Perhaps there needs to be a period of demand push to activate the required investments to improve intermodal connectivity at key ports,” said Eleanor Hadland, senior associate for ports and terminals at Drewry.
The congestion is tying up significant capacity on the Asia–Europe trade, according to C.H. Robinson. Berth delays and slower cargo handling mean vessels that typically complete 12 round trips annually are now managing only eight or nine—cutting available capacity by 25%–30%.
Industry sources estimate overall capacity reductions of 15%–20% on both Asia–North Europe and Asia–Mediterranean lanes in recent months, driven by longer Cape diversions, redeployment of larger vessels to other trades, and congestion that began in February and shows no sign of easing. Conditions can vary not only between ports, but also between terminals within the same port and among different carrier services.
