Efforts to control the current Coronavirus outbreak in Southern China have resulted in massive delays at the port of Yantian where cases have been identified, and it is now affecting operations of terminals in the surrounding areas. The port of Yantian has just recently started to resume activity but is only operating at 15% of normal level. Workforce at the terminal has also been reduced by seventy percent due to quarantine restrictions and increased testing. There are currently 27 vessels waiting to berth at Yantian port since June 4th. As carriers are omitting Yantian, nearby ports such as Nansha and Shekou are under further stress to handle the shift of cargo volume. Not only is the uptick in cargo volume hampering the nearby ports, but Coronavirus outbreaks have also migrated into Nansha and Shekou. Hong Kong will be accepting re-routed vessels which were originally to go to the aforementioned ports, however, it is fully expected it too will start to face congestion issues shortly.
In Taiwan, the port of Kaohsiung has suffered damage to their operations last week when the 316-meter-long containership OOCL Durban, toppled two container cranes. This was due to a collision with another vessel which was anchored at pier. This caused one crane to collapse, severe damage to another crane and damage to 30-50 containers. As a result of this accident, there is also heavy congestion at the port of Kaohsiung which is the world’s fourth largest container port.
Carriers have already announced significant disruptions to sailings and schedules due to the current situation in Southern China and Taiwan, with the Alliance cancelling or transferring 29 calls since the end of May and confirming omissions running up to June 25.
We will continue to monitor the situation and advise accordingly.
For more information, please call Paul Glionna, Vice President – Systems Development & Operations at
(905) 882-4880, ext. 1220.
