Shippers and ocean carriers using the major Chinese load ports of Shanghai and Ningbo will face extensive disruption due to terminal closures and vessel bunching caused by Typhoon Bebinca, which made a direct hit on Shanghai Monday.
Hapag-Lloyd warned that the berth situation at both ports was “expected to deteriorate further” due to the storm.
The typhoon, the strongest cyclone to hit Shanghai in 75 years with winds of 95 mph, caused extensive flooding and property damage in Shanghai and neighboring Jiangsu province as it made its way inland Monday and Tuesday.
Hapag-Lloyd said in an advisory Monday that ships were already waiting between 36 and 60 hours to berth at Shanghai and 24 to 48 hours to berth in Ningbo due to vessel bunching ahead of the storm.
Shanghai International Port Group, which controls all the container terminals at the world’s busiest container port, said all its facilities closed Sunday ahead of the storm’s arrival. It said its Yangshan offshore deepwater port complex, about 70 miles from the city center, reopened around midnight local time on Monday.
Cargo operations at its inner-city facilities, including the Waigaoqiao container terminal complex in Pudong and terminals at Hudong and the Wusong port area, were due to restart early Tuesday local time.
Officials at Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the third-busiest container port globally, confirmed the terminal complex closed Sunday and restarted operations late Monday.
Bebinca pounded the Yangtze River delta region about a week after southern China, northern Vietnam and Myanmar were struck by Typhoon Yagi, which closed ports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Haiphong.
Carriers and forwarders said Bebinca hit midway through a three-day public holiday, with offices only expected to reopen Wednesday. Consequently, it was too early to assess the full effect of the storm on cargo movements and vessel schedules.
“Although the typhoon is expected to weaken [Tuesday], logistics and transportation delays are expected to continue after then,” a senior executive at a Shenzhen-based forwarder told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday.
Air cargo operations at Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports were also halted Sunday evening after officials closed the two gateways ahead of the storm, although they have since reopened.
Hundreds of flights were also canceled at Ningbo and Hangzhou airports, officials said.
Source:
Wallis, K. (2024, September 17). Cargo and vessel disruption expected after Typhoon Closes Shanghai, Ningbo Ports. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/cargo-and-vessel-disruption-expected-after-typhoon-closes-shanghai-ningbo-ports-5729174