China resumes operations at world’s third-busiest port after COVID shutdown

Following the two-week shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that obstructed shipping routes in Asia, China on Wednesday resumed operations of the Meishan terminal at the world’s third busiest Ningbo-Zhoushan port. Located to the south of Shanghai, the Meishan terminal accounts for roughly 20 percent of the 30m TEU that transits through the world’s largest port in tonnage and the third busiest maritime traffic and containers. On August 25, pressure on the maritime supply chain disruptions was alleviated as Beijing relaxed the port congestion and backlog. There was an instant 23.2 percent jump in intermodal traffic. 

According to Chinese state-run media reports, the port authorities claim that they had managed to keep the port running at 90 percent of its operating capacity over the past fortnight. But the ripple effect of the congestion would be felt later in the weeks ahead across the US and Europe. Operation at the major container terminal at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan Port was suspended from a single COVID-19 case, dozens of cargo vessels lined up, bound for western markets ahead of the year-end shopping season at one of the busiest marine transportation hubs. On Wednesday, east China's Zhejiang returned to normal as restrictions from COVID-19 were eased. Officials told the state-run press that the impact on the global supply chain was at 'minimum level'.

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One of the worst port congestions in China's history 

The Chinese terminal that operates a fifth of the container volume had witnessed one of the worst congestion in the communist nation’s history in seven years, which also tremendously stretched the global shipping network. All units in the zone must comprehensively do a good job in epidemic prevention and control, as well as the resumption of work and production,” the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port notice obtained by Chinese state press had read ahead of the closure. In the year 2020, the port handled 1.2 billion tonnes of goods. The notice stated that the shipping firms’ workers must get back to loading and unloading stranded trucks. 

It remains unclear how the Meishan terminal employee contracted the COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. But China had been battling a resurgence from the hyper contagious delta variant in recent weeks. The recent shutdown of the Ningbo-Zhoushan port was the second mega halt after the closure of the Yantian port in southern trade hub Shenzhen in May. 

IMAGE: Twitter//@SniffOutStocks/PTI