Breakbulk Leaders Warn Less Than 1% Idle Capacity as Port Bottlenecks Squeeze Vessel Supply
Updated
Updated · breakbulk.com · Jun 18
Breakbulk Leaders Warn Less Than 1% Idle Capacity as Port Bottlenecks Squeeze Vessel Supply
3 articles · Updated · breakbulk.com · Jun 18
Summary
Rotterdam panelists said Breakbulk and multipurpose shipping is operating with very limited spare capacity, with MSC citing global container fleet idling at less than 1%.
Route disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el Mandeb and the Suez Canal are absorbing tonnage, leaving little overcapacity while those corridors remain constrained.
Project forwarders said the bigger problem is a vessel mismatch—whether the right ships will be available for current cargoes and projects planned over the next two to five years.
UK port limits, terminal congestion and even inland trucking-site shortages are also tying up ships, turning land-side constraints into effective ocean-capacity shortages.
Panelists said geopolitics is increasingly shaping cargo flows and even vessel selection by flag or owner, though the sector still expects to adapt through earlier coordination.