WASHINGTON, DC - The holiday season has come and gone, and with it comes a gradual slowing at major container ports throughout the United States.

“This is the traditional slowdown when the supply chain gets a break after the busy holiday season, but there’s always a new challenge on the horizon,” National Retail Federation Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea have been in the headlines, and the disruptions caused by those attacks have once again created volatility in retail supply chains. Retailers are working with their carrier partners on mitigation strategies to limit the impact, but we are seeing longer transit times and increased costs as a result.”

The Global Port Tracker report was released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates earlier today. It can be read here by its members.

Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett explained that any effect from the Red Sea attacks would most likely come at East Coast ports.

“The number of containers arriving at East Coast ports should not be directly affected if carriers add ships to maintain capacity, but shippers will have to adjust their supply chains to cope with longer transit times,” Hackett said. “We may see an increase of Asian cargo arriving at West Coast ports and then shipped east via intermodal rail, but doing so is costly and does not save that much time. As might be expected, carriers are passing on the additional voyage costs and then some.”

According to a press release, most cargo headed to the East Coast from Asia comes across the Pacific and through the Panama Canal. Some do come through the Red Seas before the Atlantic; carriers’ decision to go around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid any attacks is adding five or six days to the month-long trip from Shanghai to Savannah via the Suez Canal. Some retailers are reporting delays of as long as two weeks.

We’ll continue to report on the latest news across the supply chain so stick with us here at AndNowUKnow.