# US ships at anchor, all coasts Total container ships at anchor off US ports — the East, Gulf and West coasts combined — weekly, from the BTS supply-chain indicators _Data through week of Aug 24, 2026 · source last checked Sep 1, 2026 · page revised Sep 1, 2026_ > The total number of container ships at anchor off US ports is 8 ships as of week of Aug 24, 2026, near its trailing-12-month normal of 9 ships. This is the national anchorage total, the three coast counts (West Coast, East Coast and Gulf Coast) added together for each week all three report. It is a count of ships at anchor, not a dwell time, and it is broader than any single complex's awaiting-berth queue. Ships at anchor across US coasts totaled 8 vessels as of the week of Aug 24, 2026, near their trailing-12-month normal of 9 ships. The count rose 33.3 percent week over week from 6 ships, though it sits 50 percent below the five-year median of 16 ships and has fallen 46.7 percent year over year. ## Period moves and the seasonal vs-N-yr median (a prior-years comparison). The card verdict and the friction board use each series' trailing-12-month median, the friction rule. | Period | Current | Prior | Change | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Week over week | 8 ships | 6 ships | +33.3% | | Month over month | 8 ships | 6 ships | +33.3% | | Year over year | 8 ships | 15 ships | -46.7% | | vs 5-yr median | 8 ships | 16 ships | -50.0% | ## About US ships at anchor, all coasts This page adds up the container ships at anchor off the West Coast, East Coast and Gulf Coast into one national count, week by week, from the same BTS supply-chain indicators behind the per-coast pages. A week appears here only when all three coasts report it, so the total is always a true three-coast sum and a gap in one coast's series never shows up as a national swing. Read this page for the widest single congestion signal the public record carries; read the per-coast pages to see which seaboard is driving a move, and the per-complex queue pages for a specific gateway. A ship at anchor may be waiting for a berth, holding for a schedule, or staged for other reasons, so this is related to but broader than the awaiting-berth queue, and it is not a dwell time. ## About this data - Source: BTS Supply Chain and Freight Indicators - Series: Container ships at anchor off the coast's ports - Basis: Coast-wide anchorage count, not a berth queue or a dwell time - Geography: US ships at anchor, all coasts Coast - Unit: vessels - Calculation period: Weekly reading - Last observation: week of Aug 24, 2026 - Update frequency: Weekly --- Cite: US ships at anchor, all coasts coast: 8 ships container ships at anchor as of week of Aug 24, 2026, weekly (via BTS; an anchorage count, not a berth queue or dwell). The Dwell. https://the-dwell.com/anchored/all-coasts Canonical URL: https://the-dwell.com/anchored/all-coasts