Huh, I assumed the queue was first-come-first-served, are you telling me that these ships reserve a time at a port in advance? That’d make sense, and in that case you’re right it only makes sense to arrive there just in time for your reservation. But if it’s FIFO then it still makes sense to get there ASAP even if you’re waiting, because arriving later doesn’t make the wait shorter.

Wrt USA being a problem, I feel like that’s probably true of every industry lol