Monsoon anomaly holds up ships in Singapore and Port Klang

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An unusual surge in monsoon winds in Southeast Asia resulted in congestion in the region’s key container ports, Singapore and Port Klang, as the region experienced nearly a week of heavy rain.

Linerlytica’s report this week stated that delays of up to three days have been recorded in Singapore and Port Klang.

Singapore, the world’s second-largest container port and the busiest transshipment port, was assessed by Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s SeaSearcher as having moderate congestion, with 329 ships in the port, of which 170 arrived today. EconDB shows that the delayed ships include the 15,254 TEU CMA CGM Galapagos and the 4,253 TEU Cosco Haifa.

SeaSearcher also rates congestion in Port Klang as moderate, with 77 ships now in the Malaysian port.

It is the third spike in monsoon winds in 2025 to date and is an unusual weather occurrence. Monsoon winds tend to be the strongest in Southeast Asia between December and January, during the early phase of the north-east monsoon season. On average, Southeast Asia experiences up to four monsoon surges each year, with each event lasting between one and five days.

A monsoon surge involves bursts of cold air from the north-east, such as Central Asia, which warms as it sweeps southwards towards the tropics and rolls over the South China Sea. It then picks up moisture, causing dense rain clouds to form, leading to heavy precipitation.

On 19 March, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore issued a notice, advising ship owners to stay vigilant during the monsoon surge.

The authority stated that Vessels must be properly secured for sea at all times, as heavy showers and strong winds were expected.