Terminal congestion has become one of the biggest cost drivers in global shipping, adding billions in demurrage, detention, and fuel expenses every year. In 2021 alone, shippers lost over $321 million in interest costs as cargo sat idle at congested ports according to Maritime Executive. These inefficiencies don’t just slow trade; they inflate freight rates, extend lead times, and erode margins across the supply chain.

The real problem? Limited visibility at the terminal level. Operators often only see congestion once a vessel is already approaching port, too late to adjust routes or schedules.

Kpler’s Container Intelligence changes that. It provides real-time, terminal-level congestion insights at global ports, helping carriers, shippers, and forwarders anticipate delays, plan proactively, and protect profitability.

Durban at a glance, a vital yet vulnerable hub

The Port of Durban is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest and busiest port, handling over 4.5 million TEUs and 31 million tons of cargo annually across 58 berths and 21 km of quayside. It serves as South Africa’s key trade gateway to inland markets like Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

Despite its scale and strategic role, Durban struggles with severe congestion and low terminal productivity. The 2024 World Bank Container Port Performance Index ranked it last out of 403 global ports, citing long vessel waiting times and poor operational efficiency.

In short, Durban remains critical for regional trade — but its logistical bottlenecks at terminal level make it one of the most challenging ports in the world for carriers and shippers to navigate efficiently.

Why this matters globally

Each extra day of delay at Durban, Africa’s largest container gateway, ripples through supply chains stretching far beyond Southern Africa. Successfully navigating congestion is now critical to maintaining margins, and it starts with terminal-level visibility.

Durban handles about 60% of South Africa’s container traffic and acts as a key entry and exit point for goods moving in and out of the region. While many blame seasonal demand or port-wide issues, the reality is clearer, disruptions start at the terminal, not the port.

Get ground-level visibility with Container Intelligence

With Kpler’s Container Intelligence, users gain direct access to granular, real-time congestion data at the terminal level. You can see which terminals are backed up, how many vessels are in queue, current and forecasted vessel calls, and performance trends like average stay and waiting times, all refreshed every 30 minutes.

In the example below, Durban’s three terminals, Terminal 1, the Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT), and Terminal 2, show significant differences in operational performance. As of now, Terminal 1 shows higher congestion, while MPT is currently clear. Yet MPT’s 6-month performance index is still underperforming compared to Terminal 1 at 4.8. This index compares the last 7 days of performance to the past 6 months: 1 = major underperformance, 5 = average performance, 10 = strong improvement.

This kind of insight helps logistics teams anticipate which terminals will be problematic and plan accordingly, whether that’s rerouting, adjusting schedules, or renegotiating with carriers.

In the view below, users can see which vessels are scheduled to call at each terminal over the next six weeks, providing valuable foresight for effective planning and informed negotiations.

The issue of port congestion is highlighted in https://blogs.tradlinx.com/worldwide-port-delays-surge-300-in-june-2025-critical-hubs-like-singapore-cape-town-and-rotterdam-hit-hard/. While such analyses provide valuable insights into global port performance and optimization trends, they often overlook terminal-level dynamics, the layer that truly reveals where delays originate and where operational improvements can be made. For this study, we focus on data from Durban, which recorded an average delay of 9.8 days in June, up from 6.9 days in May, as reported in the referenced article. Let’s now dive into historical data from that period to explore the insights that Kpler’s Container Intelligence can uncover.

At first glance, Kpler’s Container Intelligence port-level data indicates only a mild deterioration from May to June:

  • Vessel calls ↓ 11 % in June
  • Total calling TEU capacity ↓4 %
  • Share of vessels experiencing waiting ↑ from 93.2 % → 95.8 %
  • Average waiting time ↑ 28 % (from 19.7 → 25.3 hours) congestion became more widespread even as total traffic eased slightly
  • Average staying time ↓ 22 % (from 63.3 → 49.2 hours) suggesting that terminal operations themselves became more efficient and that the problem lies before berthing, not at the quay.

Although vessel calls decreased and average waiting time increased, the average staying time fell accordingly, balancing the overall turnaround time of container vessels and keeping it roughly in line with the previous month.

Deep dive at the terminal level

What truly reveals the port’s operational dynamics is a deep dive into Durban’s three terminals. While two terminals experienced shorter delays in June, one emerged as the key congestion hotspot, highlighting the limitations of relying solely on port-level data.

By shifting the focus from the port to the terminal level, Container Intelligence uncovers the underlying disparities, identifying which facilities are genuine bottlenecks and which maintain steady performance. This level of visibility empowers users to negotiate more effectively with terminals, monitor in real time which vessels and carriers are being prioritised, and receive early congestion alerts to adjust rotations. It also supports strategic network planning, enables performance benchmarking across terminals, and helps teams understand the root causes of disruptions, so that the right people can make informed operational decisions.

Looking at the data from Kpler’s Container Intelligence tool, it becomes evident that the port’s average waiting time does not reflect what’s happening at each terminal. Terminals 1 and the Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) performed relatively well, while Terminal 2 was the clear bottleneck. This reassures users that vessels calling at T1 or MPT can expect smoother operations, whereas those scheduled for T2 should anticipate potential delays.

Terminal 1 improved its operational efficiency. Terminal 2 became the main congestion hotspot. The Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) remained constrained by limited capacity.

This comparative view clearly demonstrates how Container Intelligence identifies operational imbalances between terminals, providing a far clearer and more actionable picture than port-level metrics alone.

Container Intelligence surfaces these contrasts instantly, pinpointing where real pressure builds. Instead of relying on a single “Durban delay” figure, stakeholders can visualise where and why queues form, laying the groundwork for more targeted berth planning, scheduling, and resource allocation.

Below is a detailed view of the three terminals, showing exactly what a Container Intelligence user can access.

At Terminal 1, users can see vessels currently underway with Durban as their next port of call, along with the carriers and services involved. The platform also displays forecasted vessel arrivals for the next six weeks, those that include Durban in their network even if it’s not the immediate next stop, alongside real-time port conditions and the latest weekly averages for stay and waiting times.

The same level of detail is available for Terminal 2 and the Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT).

Carrier-level insights show how deployment choices drive outcomes

Container Intelligence quantifies how deployment choices, vessel size, and rotation patterns translate into real-world waiting times, insights that remain invisible in traditional port-level summaries.

With this information, Container Intelligence users can leverage carrier and terminal performance dashboards to give procurement teams the data they need to select and negotiate with the most reliable service providers. By identifying faster carriers and more efficient terminals, users can book smarter, cut costs, improve planning accuracy, differentiate their services, and ultimately win more business.

For the analysed period of May–June 2025, Kpler’s Container Intelligence tool revealed that even within the same terminal, carrier strategies significantly influenced congestion exposure.

Next to each terminal call for your vessels, you can view the carriers and services involved, along with their performance and six-week forecasts provided by Kpler’s Container Intelligence tool. This gives you a complete operational overview at your fingertips, eliminating the need for constant calls and coordination with your agents, and making day-to-day planning far more efficient.

From visibility to action, Container Intelligence empowers users to instantly identify underperforming terminals and benchmark them against 1,800 ports and terminals worldwide. It enables detailed carrier-level diagnostics to understand how deployment choices amplify or reduce risk, while predictive congestion insights help anticipate bottlenecks before they drive up demurrage and charter costs. Faster turnarounds also translate into less idle time and lower emissions, directly supporting decarbonisation goals. In short, port-level visibility is history, the new era of operational intelligence is granular, real-time, and comparative, allowing shippers, forwarders, and carriers to act before queues form. MarineTraffic Container Intelligence, part of Kpler’s maritime analytics suite, equips stakeholders to anticipate congestion, benchmark performance, and make data-driven, sustainable decisions in an increasingly complex logistics environment.