At anchor
Near normalGulf Coast ships at anchor
Container ships at anchor off Gulf Coast ports, weekly, from the BTS supply-chain indicators
Data through week of Sep 7, 2026 · source last checked Sep 15, 2026 · page revised Sep 15, 2026
Cite
- Ships at anchor
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
- Gulf Coast Coast
- Unit
- vessels
- Calculation
- Weekly reading
- Last observation
- week of Sep 7, 2026
- Update frequency
- Weekly
Container ships at anchor off Gulf Coast ports is 2 ships as of week of Sep 7, 2026, near its trailing-12-month normal of 2 ships. This is a coast-wide anchorage count, ships at anchor off Gulf Coast ports. It is related to but broader than a single complex's awaiting-berth queue, and it is not a dwell time.
Gulf Coast ships at anchor doubled week over week from 1 to 2 ships, per MARAD, the top percentage move in this week's digest at +100%. The count remains 50% below the five-year median. Two ships is a small absolute level and does not indicate congestion at the tracked complexes.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 2 ships | 1 ship | +100.0% |
| Month over month | 2 ships | 0 ships | n/a |
| Year over year | 2 ships | 2 ships | 0.0% |
| vs 5-yr median | 2 ships | 4 ships | -50.0% |
Previous weeks
Week of Aug 25, 2026
Container ships at anchor off the Gulf Coast numbered 1 as of the week of Aug 24, below its trailing-12-month normal of 2 ships. The anchorage rose from zero ships last month but remains well below its five-year median of 3 ships.
An earlier week
Container ships at anchor off the Gulf Coast number 1 vessel, below the trailing-12-month normal of 2 ships. The reading is half the five-year median, reflecting light anchorage traffic coast-wide.
Week of Aug 20, 2026
Gulf Coast ships at anchor stand at zero for the week of Aug 10, running below the trailing-12-month normal of two vessels. Year over year the count has eased one ship, and it sits well below the five-year median of four.
About Gulf Coast ships at anchor
This page counts the container ships at anchor off Gulf Coast ports, the coast-wide anchorage picture, weekly from the BTS supply-chain indicators. It is a broader lens than the per-complex awaiting-berth queue: a ship at anchor off the coast may be waiting for a berth at any of the coast's ports, holding for a schedule, or staged for other reasons, so the two counts are related but not the same number, and neither is a dwell time. Read this page for the coast's overall pressure and the per-complex queue pages for a specific gateway. A rising anchorage count across a coast is the widest early-warning signal the public record carries.