# East Coast ships at anchor Container ships at anchor off East Coast ports, 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_ > Container ships at anchor off East Coast ports is 7 ships as of week of Aug 24, 2026, near its trailing-12-month normal of 6 ships. This is a coast-wide anchorage count, ships at anchor off East Coast ports. It is related to but broader than a single complex's awaiting-berth queue, and it is not a dwell time. East Coast ships at anchor climbed to 7 this week, up 75% week over week, and remain 50% below the five-year median (per MARAD). The at-anchor count is a separate series from the ships-awaiting-berth figures and reflects anchor activity along the full East Coast. Despite the week-over-week increase, the count sits well below its longer-term historical average. ## 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 | 7 ships | 4 ships | +75.0% | | Month over month | 7 ships | 5 ships | +40.0% | | Year over year | 7 ships | 12 ships | -41.7% | | vs 5-yr median | 7 ships | 14 ships | -50.0% | ## About East Coast ships at anchor This page counts the container ships at anchor off East 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. ## 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: East Coast Coast - Unit: vessels - Calculation period: Weekly reading - Last observation: week of Aug 24, 2026 - Update frequency: Weekly --- Cite: East Coast coast: 7 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/east-coast Canonical URL: https://the-dwell.com/anchored/east-coast