The Meishan terminal at Ningbo-Zhoushan port reopened today two weeks after its closure because of a single case of Covid-19 being detected in a port worker.
The terminal accounts for roughly 20% of the 30m teu that pass through the port every year. Ningbo-Zhoushan, lying to the south of Shanghai, is the world’s largest port in overall tonnage terms and the third largest when it comes to containers. Authorities claim to have managed to have kept the port running at 90% of its operating capacity over the past fortnight, nevertheless the ripple effect of this latest port congestion issue will be felt in the coming weeks in far off destinations such as the US and Europe.
Since July 20, community-spread infections have been confirmed in more than half of China’s provinces, sparking mass testing operations and localised lockdowns.
Newly reported positive Covid-19 cases in China have recently forced the country to re-introduce restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO, told Splash earlier this month that further Covid-19-related port disruptions in China ought to be expected in the coming weeks.
