Hapag-Lloyd suspends bookings to three Philippine ports as container crisis deepens

Hapag-Lloyd has suspended new bookings to Manila, Batangas and Subic Bay until the end of December, as worsening congestion and a chronic shortage of empty-container storage capacity disrupt Philippine supply chains.

The German carrier stopped accepting bookings to the three gateways from all origins and across every trade lane on September 29, citing severe constraints on container returns. Existing bookings may also face cancellation or revised arrangements.

Hapag-Lloyd remains the only major liner known to have introduced such a sweeping suspension. Other carriers continue serving the Philippines, although CMA CGM announced two weeks of blank sailings on its BMX service on Friday, affecting the CNC Pearl and CNC Sapphire. Those cancellations were attributed to vessel redeployment rather than congestion.

The crisis centres on the Philippines’ longstanding trade imbalance, with significantly more laden containers arriving than departing, leaving carriers struggling to find space for empty boxes.

Philippine Ports Authority general manager Jay Santiago has urged foreign shipping lines to establish additional empty-container depots, describing this as the quickest solution to the worsening logistics bottleneck.

Truckers have reported extraordinary delays returning containers. Mary Zapata, president of the Confederation of Truckers Associations of the Philippines, told local newspaper Daily Tribune that some operators have waited as long as 40 days to return empty boxes. The delays leave trucks and chassis immobilised, preventing operators from collecting fresh imports and adding costs throughout the supply chain.

The problems triggered industrial action earlier this month, prompting the Philippine Bureau of Customs to acknowledge the severe pressure on truckers, customs brokers, importers and exporters.

Hapag-Lloyd’s latest operational update suggests the difficulties extend well beyond congestion at the quayside. The carrier reports Manila vessel waiting times of two to four days for scheduled arrivals and four to seven days for ships missing their berthing windows. Subic Bay waiting times, however, remain below 12 hours, while Batangas operations are described as normal.

Philippine investment analysts at AB Capital have warned that the bigger risk is other carriers following Hapag-Lloyd’s lead, potentially transforming a landside container bottleneck into a broader disruption to the country’s international trade.

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