Companies are missing components and the bike they ordered is months overdue. Where global transport chains otherwise function like clockwork, the coronavirus pandemic has caused a great deal of confusion - to the annoyance of the economy and consumers, who are being tested for patience by material shortages and delivery problems. Economists and logistics experts expect the problems to continue in 2022. The images of the days-long accident involving the megamax freighter 'Ever Given' in the Suez Canal in March were spectacular: The problem is much more persistent than can be explained by just this one shipping accident.

Restrictions complicate the situation

"Unfortunately, it remains to be seen when the supply chain situation will improve in the long term. But I am sure that when we have defeated the pandemic, whenever that will be, everything will flow better again," says the new President of the German Shipowners' Association, Gaby Bornheim, to the German Press Agency. "The strained supply chains are clearly a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We have a unique situation here due to the pandemic, in which a lot has come together," says Bornheim.

"We still can't simply bring our seafarers on board as we were used to, nor can we get them off the ship unhindered," reports the head of Hamburg-based Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, one of Germany's largest shipping companies. "There are considerable restrictions that change in the individual ports on a weekly, sometimes even daily basis, so we have no certainty that we can now carry out crew changes in many parts of the world."

Lack of transport boxes and closed ports

For a long time, missing containers were also a major problem because the transport boxes were not where they were supposed to be for reloading due to delays in the schedules. At Hapag-Lloyd, for example, containers are normally on the road for 50 days before they can be loaded again, but due to the congestion in the ports, it takes more than 60 days. To compensate for this, the Hamburg-based shipping company alone has purchased a total of 625,000 new transport boxes since 2020.

Ultimately, many ports are proving to be a huge bottleneck - especially those on the Chinese coast and the American west coast, between which the huge trade flows between the two largest economies are handled. In China, ports have repeatedly been closed in whole or in part because port workers were corona infected. Ships have to wait days to load and unload or divert to other ports, where large traffic jams also form. Due to the very strict reaction of the Chinese authorities and the unprecedented speed at which the coronavirus Omikron is spreading, closed port terminals in China are likely to remain an issue in 2022.

The Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in the immediate vicinity, the two most important ports on the US West Coast, also have masses of ships lying in the roads, with up to 100 at times in the fall. In addition, hinterland transport is not working as it should, partly because there are not enough truck drivers. US President Joe Biden made the port problem a top priority in the fall and ensured that the Port of Los Angeles operates seven days a week and at night.

Goods stuck on immobile ships

Economist Vincent Stamer, who regularly analyzes global shipping movements at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, estimates that more than 11% of goods shipped worldwide are currently parked on unmoved ships - a huge amount considering that 90% of global goods flows are transported by container ship. The German seaports are not considered to be at risk of congestion because they are the last ports of call on the major global routes of the liner shipping companies.

Towards the end of the year, Stamer does observe a slight easing of congestion. However: "It can be assumed that the easing of congestion in container shipping is a consequence of the subdued trading activity, not a trend reversal towards smoother processes." The first improvement could be seen in February. "Although demand is still high, we hope that there will be the first signs of a gradual decompression in the supply chains after the Chinese New Year," wrote Hapag-Lloyd in a message to customers at the turn of the year.

Stamer also sees the Chinese New Year as the first important milestone. The festival is traditionally a high point of consumption in the world's most populous country, after which consumer demand ebbs significantly. "But even then, it will probably be some time before the global supply network is back in sync. Supply delays and bottlenecks could therefore keep us busy well into next year," expects the Kiel-based economic researcher.

In the early summer of 2021, the leading associations of the German economy had already complained about the situation in an open letter to the German government at the time: "Artificial bottlenecks in transport capacities in the maritime supply chains" were blamed for the fact that the industry's ramp-up after the coronavirus recession in 2020 was stuttering. There was talk of a lack of container availability, a lack of transport capacity, unpunctual ship arrivals and sharply rising transport costs, especially on the routes between Asia, North America and Europe.

However, the shipping industry is not prepared to accept this accusation, especially as fleets have shrunk in Germany since the financial crisis, but have grown globally. In a public discussion with experts from the logistics industry, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said: "Everyone knows that we are not hiding any ships and that we are not hiding any boxes."