Hamburg Port Tracker
Port of Hamburg · Germany · UN/LOCODE DEHAM
Free live Hamburg port congestion today: Elbe vessel wait times, ships at anchor, berth occupancy and delay risk. Updated through the day.
Port of Hamburg conditions — last 24 hours (as of 22 Oct 2026, UTC)
Port of Hamburg was holding 17 commercial vessels at anchor. The median stay was 4.9 hours. 10% of port calls anchored at all; the rest went straight to a berth.
- Congestion level
- Moderate congestion
- Commercial vessels at anchor
- 17
- Median time at anchorage, excl. bunkering (last 24 hours)
- 4.9 hours
- Completed anchorage stays measured
- 67
- Median time at anchorage, excl. bunkering (last 7 days)
- 3.7 hours
- Berth occupancy
- 87%
- Port calls that anchored at all (last 30 days)
- 10% (752 of 7,498 measured calls)
Measured from public AIS data: time spent at anchor inside the port area by commercial vessels (IMO number, 100 m and longer), with bunkering anchorages excluded from the headline figure. It covers all anchorage time — including waiting for orders — 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. Ships that went straight to a berth are not in the median at all, so the share of calls that anchored is the denominator it should be read against — it is not comparable with a figure averaged over every arrival, or with whole-turnaround time. This is a dated snapshot; the live Port of Hamburg tracker updates continuously.
Port of Hamburg anchorage time by ship type — last 30 days (as of 22 Oct 2026, UTC)
| Ship type | Anchorage stays | Median time at anchorage |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo | 1075 | 4.2 hours |
| Tanker | 391 | 5.0 hours |
| Container | 197 | 3.5 hours |
| Passenger | 40 | 2.0 hours |
Same measurement as the headline figure — commercial vessels with an IMO number, 100 m and longer, measured from public AIS — grouped by the ship type each vessel broadcasts. Stays are tracked for at most 72 hours; where a share reaches that cap, the median understates the tail.
About Port of Hamburg
Port of Hamburg is Germany's largest seaport and the third-busiest container port in Europe, handling over 8 million TEUs annually. Located on the Elbe river approximately 100 km from the North Sea, it is the primary import-export gateway for the German market. Hamburg congestion is rarely a pure berth problem: tidal windows, Elbe draught restrictions and pilot availability shape when a vessel can actually move, so queues form in the German Bight and along the river rather than in one anchorage.
Strengths
- Primary gateway for German import-export trade — the largest European economy
- World-class automation at Altenwerder (HHLA CTA) — among the most technologically advanced container terminals globally
- Strong eastward rail connections to Eastern Europe and Asia via New Silk Road freight corridors
- The largest rail port in Europe — a very high share of containers leave by train rather than truck
- Dense feeder network to the Baltic, making Hamburg the natural transshipment point for Scandinavia, Poland and the Baltic states
- Terminals sit close together along the river, which keeps inter-terminal transport distances short
Operational challenges
- Elbe river depth is a persistent constraint — ongoing dredging disputes have limited full access for the largest ULCVs
- Tidal scheduling required for deep-draught vessels transiting the 100 km Elbe approach from the North Sea
- City development has landlocked the port on most sides, severely limiting future horizontal expansion
- Tide-dependent departure windows mean a berth delay of a few hours can cost most of a day of schedule
- Strong westerly storms in the German Bight regularly suspend Elbe pilotage and stack up arrivals
- German rail network works and labour actions occasionally throttle the port’s main hinterland corridor
Frequently asked questions about Port of Hamburg
What is the vessel waiting time at Hamburg port?
The table on this page gives the measured median by ship type for the last 30 days. Hamburg's figures are young: the monitored area only covered the river until 19 September 2026, when the Elbe Reede and German Bight anchorages were added, so anything before October 2026 understates the deep-sea wait and is not published in the Anchorage Index. Stops on the river and at the Kiel Canal entrance are left out of the figure, because most of those ships are passing through rather than waiting for a Hamburg berth, and the share of calls that anchor, shown next to the median, counts only the waiting anchorages.
How does the Elbe river affect Hamburg port operations?
Hamburg's inland location on the Elbe river means large vessels must navigate ~100 km of river before reaching the terminal. Elbe depth at Blankenese is critical — the river requires periodic dredging to maintain draught for large vessels, and deep-draught ships must use a tidal window in each direction.
Is Hamburg port congested right now?
The Hamburg page on PortInsight shows a live congestion level (low, moderate, high or severe) derived from AIS vessel counts, anchorage waiting time and berth occupancy, refreshed every 3–5 minutes rather than reported monthly.
Where do vessels wait before entering Hamburg?
Inbound vessels typically wait in the German Bight near the Elbe approach and the Elbe pilot station, or at designated river waiting areas, before receiving a tidal slot to proceed upriver to the terminals.
How long is a typical Hamburg port call?
Deep-sea container calls at Hamburg commonly run 24–40 hours from pilot boarding to departure, including the river transit. PortInsight measures total port time from AIS entry to exit so the current figure can be compared to the recent baseline.
What is the DEHAM port code?
DEHAM is the UN/LOCODE identifier for the Port of Hamburg, Germany's largest seaport and the third-busiest container port in Europe. It is used in bills of lading, AIS destination fields and EDI messages.
What does a delay at Hamburg cost?
Every hour a vessel waits outside Port of Hamburg accrues demurrage. The free Hamburg live demurrage cost counter converts the current anchorage queue into an estimated hourly and daily cost using vessel-type day rates, and the demurrage calculator lets you price your own container or voyage delay.