Sea Freight update: Ningbo reopens fully, but issues persist elsewhere
Restrictions on the Meishan Island International Container Terminal (MSICT) and associated bonded trade zone at Ningbo-Zhoushan port have been lifted today (25th August) two weeks after its closure because of a single detected case of Covid-19 being detected in a port worker.
It will take a few days to get up and running – having partially reopened last week – but expectations are that operations will fully return to normal by the 1st September. The terminal handles over five million TEUs a year, or about 17% of Ningbo’s total container handling.
Haulier can begin to collect waiting containers, but their bookings will be staggered to avoid congestion.
As of yesterday, there were 26 containers ships at berth and at anchor outside the port, which is the third-busiest global container port.
The terminal is mainly used by the Ocean Alliance (Cosco, CMA CGM, and Evergreen) who’s sailings have either diverted to Ningbo’s Beilun or Daxie terminals, which are operating normally, or skipped calls at the east China gateway entirely.
But ships diverted to other port terminals have added to congestion at Ningbo, resulting in queues of ships at the anchorage outside the port.
Port authorities claim to have kept the port running at 90% of its operating capacity over the past fortnight, but this latest port congestion issue will be felt in the coming weeks in the US and Europe.
The maintenance of operations at the port and the full opening of the Meishan terminal after two weeks, means that any disruption is likely to have less impact than the closure of Yantian International Container Terminals in late June, but other issues are impacting sea freight operations in Asia and the US.
Many Chinese ports are requiring nasal swab tests for entire crews, forcing vessels to remain outside the harbour until negative results are confirmed. And many ports are requiring vessels that have sailed from India to quarantine for two to four weeks.
Chittagong port has detected COVID in the crews of two vessels in the last week and a crew member of the 11,000TEU Yang Ming Travel tested positive, resulting to schedule delays for its transpacific service.
India’s worst-ever sea freight capacity crunch has led to skyrocketing freight rates and a sold-out spot market to Oceania, West Africa, North and South America.
Shippers are increasingly trying to switch from ocean to air transport to make up for huge production slowdowns in Vietnam due to COVID, with air freight rates rapidly escalating because of the spike in demand.
Nearly 90% of the apparel and textile industry’s supply chain has been significantly impacted by the partial lockdowns in Vietnam, with up to 80% of garment and textile companies in the southern provinces completely halting production. In the north, about 20% to 30% of the textile and apparel suppliers have halted production.
COVID is also affecting Cambodia, which is complicating land-air shipments via Saigon and Bangkok. The rate from Thailand’s capital has more than doubled from pre-pandemic norms.
