As Shanghai enters the third week of lockdown, port congestion is said to be easing. China’s Ministry of Transport claimed that containerships are now spending less time in Shanghai port.
Wu Chungeng, Head of Public Roads, said that mainline vessels are spending an average of two days in port, which is down over 40% from a year ago.
Mr Wu stressed that Shanghai port was trying hard to ease the impact of lockdown on port operations. 25,000 employees have been deployed to implement management measures, including setting up checkpoints, issuing entry permits, minimising entry numbers and registering personnel and vehicles.
However, there was no mention of arrival numbers, and some mainline operators have begun to skip Shanghai since the start of the April lockdown. Since 14 April, Maersk has stopped taking bookings for Shanghai-bound reefers and dangerous cargo.
The claim of reduced congestion contrasts with ONE’S latest customer report. The Japanese carrier’s advisory points to ongoing congestion at the port terminal, with limited trucking and reefer yard plug capacity.
“Considering this situation, ONE highly encourages customers to consider a change of destination to alternative ports to prevent delays and/or damage to your cargo, especially for time-sensitive commodities.”
In the UK, we’re not feeling the real effect of this disruption yet. It’s estimated that the full impact won’t become apparent to western consumers until May or later, as the current supply chain congestion slowly unravels.
Get in touch
Are you concerned about potential delays? Our sales team is kept fully updated with all the latest port information. Get in touch to discuss your best course of action.