Animated line chart of container ships berthed at West Swanson in the past 7 days, 1 September to 30 November, for 2024, 2025 and 2026 to date, with rings marking each ship that waited more than 8 hours for a berth. Ships that waited more than 8 hours: 16 in 2024, 6 in 2025 and 3 in September 2026.
Late ships into Melbourne are predictable weeks in advance.
On 2 and 3 September, Typhoon Saudel shut Ningbo for 78 hours and Shanghai's main terminals for more than two days, on top of weeks of congestion in East China.
Ships that left Asia late stayed late down the east coast. Between 19 and 24 September, three container ships waited 25 to 50 hours for a berth at West Swanson in Melbourne. Then seven berthed in four days, one of its busiest stretches in two years.
It isn't just Melbourne. Sea-Intelligence reported this week that global schedule reliability fell to 49.9% in August, the lowest since September 2022.
We've been here before. In peak season 2024, 16 ships waited more than eight hours at West Swanson. In 2025, with schedules recovered, only six did. This season starts with schedules less reliable than they were in 2024.
What the ship data can't show is what happened at the gate. Container Transport Alliance Australia reported truck turnaround times of two to three hours and a shortage of booking slots that same weekend. DP World cited a labour shortage, and its booking slots were already 95% used back in June.
Disruption in Asia reaches Melbourne about three weeks later, and you can see it coming in public vessel data.
If you move containers through Swanson, how did last week look from your side of the gate?
In the video
- 2 to 3 September 2026. Typhoon Saudel shuts Ningbo for 78 hours and Shanghai for two days.
- Three weeks later. 7 ships berth at West Swanson in 4 days. Trucks queue 2 to 3 hours at the gate.
- Peak season 2024. Typhoons on top of Red Sea diversions. 16 ships wait more than 8 hours.
- Peak season 2025. Schedules recovered. Typhoon Ragasa barely registers and only 6 ships wait.
- What it means. Disruption in Asia reaches Melbourne two to three weeks later. Plan the gate for it.
Ships that waited more than 8 hours for a berth: 16 in 2024 (September: 4), 6 in 2025 (September: 3), 3 in 2026 (September only).
Source: Data Duality Transport Oracle. Typhoon dates: port advisories.