Chinese authorities have announced a strict lockdown for some western areas of Shanghai, as new COVID-19 cases jumped by a third, despite the measures taken by the country to stop the virus spreading. Following this situation, the congestion at the city’s port increased heavily since early March.
Shanghai International Port Group, which manages the city’s ports, said that 24 hour operations would be maintained, while roads, bridges and tunnels between the Pudong and Puxi areas are being blocked for at least 1 week.
According to VesselsValue, in the last two and half weeks, there is an almost 5 fold increase in the number of ships waiting to load or discharge at Shanghai.
As it becomes clear from Figure 1, the recent increase is far higher than both last year and normal seasonal levels at Shanghai.
Broken down by ship type, the surge in congestion is driven by Dry Bulk Carriers, followed by Tankers, as shown in Figure 2 below. Conversely, there are six fewer Containerships in the queue than on March 9th
At this moment it is not clear what will be the consequences of the Shanghai’s lockdown on port’s vessel queue, but everyone should be ready for the knock-off effects.
