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Ningbo-Zhoushan terminal closed for sixth consecutive day

The Meishan terminal at Ningbo-Zhoushan port remained closed for a sixth straight day on Monday, with ship queues outside the port at record levels.

A 34-year-old port worker was found to have caught Covid-19 sparking the terminal’s swift closure early on Wednesday morning last week. In the intervening days, a number of liners have rerouted ships to avoid Ningbo-Zhoushan. The terminal accounts for around one fifth of the approximate 30m teu throughput of the port.

When a Covid-19 outbreak hit Yantian Port in eastern Shenzhen in late May, the port was partially closed for around four weeks creating massive liner disruption.

While the port authority remains tight lipped in Zhejiang Province, sources in Ningbo told Splash today that the port has earmarked a tentative reopening date for Meishan of September 6.

The sheer enormity of Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the world’s largest port in tonnage terms, appears to have helped prevent a wider total port lockdown.

Meishan Island is approximately 30 km away from Ningbo’s major container terminal at Beilun, and 60 km away from Ningbo downtown.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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