Oh BOY !!!! congestion in the port of Shanghai has risen a whopping 42% between April 16th and 18th and is continuing to grow. Right now the average vessel delay is 53 hours. Between the new steamship line alliances and dense fog it is becoming increasingly difficult for vessels to stick to their schedules. Adding to problems in the port are a large number of Hanjin containers taking up space even though the line folded last year. Shanghai is the busiest container port in the world and capacity management is difficult without the added problems. Most carriers have overbooked space therefore the gated-in containers are reducing turnover and efficiency at the Shanghai port which also creates a shortage of empties at the inland container depots. Weather conditions in North China have caused delays on vessels whose next port of call is Shanghai while some carriers decided to skip Shanghai so they can catch up to their sailing schedule. Any which way you look at this it is all BAD. With container prices expected to go up and many vendors trying to get goods in before Memorial Day the pressure is on for the steamship lines to do something and do it fast. We will continue to monitor the situation and update you regularly.