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Busan port congestion, September 2026
In September 2026, commercial vessels in Busan spent a median of 15.9 h at anchorage, across 346 completed stays. One in ten stays lasted 72 hours or more. The longest daily median was on 9 Sept (53.5 h).
What stood out
- Waits spiked on 9 Sept, when the daily median reached 53.5 h, 236% above the month as a whole.
- About one ship in 9 was still at anchor after 72 hours.
Key figures
- Median time at anchorage (excl. bunkering and lay-up)
- 15.9 h
- Ships still at anchor after 72 hours
- 11%
- Completed anchorage stays
- 346
- Completed stays on a typical day
- 12.4
- Ships at anchor at any one time
- 12
Daily median time at anchorage
| Day | Median | Stays |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sept | 8.4 h | 13 |
| 2 Sept | 11.5 h | 12 |
| 3 Sept | 20.2 h | 27 |
| 4 Sept | 3.2 h | 2 |
| 6 Sept | 3.7 h | 5 |
| 8 Sept | 5.8 h | 7 |
| 9 Sept | 53.5 h | 7 |
| 10 Sept | 4.1 h | 7 |
| 11 Sept | 13.3 h | 2 |
| 12 Sept | 5.6 h | 12 |
| 13 Sept | 14.0 h | 5 |
| 14 Sept | 4.9 h | 9 |
| 15 Sept | 6.6 h | 5 |
| 16 Sept | 7.2 h | 9 |
| 17 Sept | 21.3 h | 6 |
| 18 Sept | 14.8 h | 9 |
| 19 Sept | 17.5 h | 16 |
| 20 Sept | 17.6 h | 15 |
| 21 Sept | 20.2 h | 15 |
| 22 Sept | 28.9 h | 22 |
| 23 Sept | 15.4 h | 26 |
| 24 Sept | 15.2 h | 13 |
| 25 Sept | 32.7 h | 7 |
| 26 Sept | 22.6 h | 27 |
| 27 Sept | 15.9 h | 17 |
| 28 Sept | 24.3 h | 25 |
| 29 Sept | 9.9 h | 11 |
| 30 Sept | 28.4 h | 15 |
Longest days
- 9 Sept: 53.5 h median, 7 stays
- 25 Sept: 32.7 h median, 7 stays
- 22 Sept: 28.9 h median, 22 stays
By vessel type
| Vessel type | Stays | Median at anchorage |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo | 245 | 16.1 h |
| Tanker | 53 | 14.3 h |
| Container | 32 | 18.1 h |
Other ports in September 2026
- Singapore: 18.3 h
- Rotterdam: 19.9 h
- Los Angeles: 20.8 h
- Yokohama: 13.7 h
What shapes anchorage time in Busan
Busan is Korea’s largest port and one of the world’s biggest container transshipment hubs, with terminals split between the North Port and the New Port. Container ships usually berth on schedule, so anchorage time mostly reflects bulk carriers, tankers and ships waiting for a window. From July to September, typhoons can close the port for a day or more and cause sudden spikes.
Questions about Busan in September 2026
How long do ships wait at anchor in Busan?
In September 2026, commercial ships spent a median of 15.9 h at anchor in Busan, based on 346 completed stays. One in ten ships was still at anchor after 72 hours. Bunkering anchorages are not included.
Which ships wait longest at anchor in Busan?
In September 2026: container ships 18.1 h, cargo ships 16.1 h, tankers 14.3 h (median time at anchor, types with at least 20 stays).
Is Busan more congested than other major ports?
Busan had the 4th longest median time at anchorage of the 5 ports PortInsight tracks in September 2026. Among the others, the longest was Los Angeles (20.8 h) and the shortest Yokohama (13.7 h). Ports use their anchorages differently, so each is best compared with its own history.
How many ships are at anchor in Busan?
In September 2026, an average of 12 commercial ships were at anchor in the port area at any one time. That is the total time ships spent at anchor divided by the length of the month, so it is measured from the same stays as the median rather than counted separately.
Is Busan port congested right now?
This report covers September 2026. For current conditions, the live Busan tracker on PortInsight shows ships at anchor, time at anchorage and the congestion level, updated continuously from AIS data.
How to read this report
- Median time at anchorage
- Half of the ships spent less time at anchor than this, half spent more. Unlike an average, a few very long stays do not pull it up.
- 1 in 10 ships waited longer than
- The 90th percentile. It shows how long the slowest tenth of ships waited, which is what matters when you plan for a bad case rather than a typical one.
- Still at anchor after 72 hours
- Stays are tracked for at most 72 hours. Where enough ships reach that limit, the 90th percentile would simply read "72 h" for every busy port, so the share of ships that reached it is shown instead.
- Ship stays per day
- How many ships completed a stay at anchor on a typical measured day. The median says how long ships stayed; this says how many there were, which is the difference between a busy port and a slow one.
- Ship stays
- Each time a commercial ship anchored in the port area and later left, counted in the month it left. A ship that anchors twice counts twice.
- Not the same as the berth queue
- Ships anchor for many reasons besides waiting for a berth: orders, fuel, crew, supplies or a tidal window. This report measures all time at anchor, which makes it a different measure from the berth-queue figures other sources publish, not simply a higher one — it reads higher where ships anchor for other reasons, and lower where they wait outside the monitored area.
Coverage and data quality
346 completed stays, measured on 30 of 30 days; 11% of stays reached the 72-hour tracking limit and count as 72 hours; 2% of eligible stays were dropped because the vessel's length was never reported.
How these figures are measured
Measured from public AIS data: completed stays at anchor inside the port area by commercial vessels (IMO number, 100 m and longer), by the month the vessel left the anchorage. Bunkering and lay-up anchorages are excluded from the headline and bunkering is reported separately. Stays are tracked for at most 72 hours; longer stays count as 72 hours, so P90 values at the cap are shown as "≥72 h". The figure covers all time at anchorage, not only the queue for a berth, so it is a different measure from the berth-queue figures published elsewhere and can read higher or lower than them.
The series starts in September 2026, when PortInsight moved to a new AIS data provider. Earlier months are not comparable and are not published.