Ningbo Meishan Island International Terminal has returned to operation, but dozens of containerships are still caught up in a backlog at China’s second-busiest port.
The facility, which accounts for one-quarter of the Ningbo-Zhousan’s port capacity, was confirmed to have formally reopened in a statement by the Information Office of Ningbo, AP Moller-Maersk said.
The reopening follows a two-week lockdown since 11 August after a worker was found to be infected with the Delta variant of Covid-19.
Some 50 containerships with a total capacity of 257,143 teu were waiting at the port on 26 August, according to VesselsValue estimates supplied to TradeWinds.
The vessel that has waited longest to berth is the 3,586-teu panamax containership Dong Cheng Bi Hai (built 2007), which has been waiting nine days, according to VesselsValue.
A week earlier, an estimated 80 containerships with a total capacity of 393,650 teu were stranded off the port, with the 5,936-teu post-panamax Tasman (built 2000) the longest-delayed ship at five days.
Congestion in Asia is replicated in the US, where the number of containerships waiting off the west coast is at near-record levels.
The Meishan terminal had resumed partial operations earlier in the week and a number of boxships have previously berthed at the port.
In an update issued before the official confirmation of the full reopening, CMA CGM said two of its ships — the 22,428-teu CMA CGM Rivoli (built 2021) and 8,721-teu CMA CGM Samson (built 2011) — had called at the port and completed cargo operations.
This is the second closure of a major Chinese container terminal this year due to a Covid-19 outbreak. Yantian port in Shenzhen was shut from late May for about a month.
Authorities in China have been enforcing a zero Covid policy, introducing strict lockdowns when infections are discovered.
The congestion and delays on global shipping routes due to Covid-19 have worsened this year as Chinese exports hit record levels due to rising demand.
“Recently, ports are becoming more congested in China, as the government has urged tighter control on all operation procedures due to a few new Covid-19 cases,” shipping consultancy Drewry told Bloomberg.
“But the impact from Meishan will be less than what happened at Yantian.”
