Shanghai has extended its lockdown and the world’s largest container port has taken using more river and sea transport to bring boxes to terminals.
The two-phase lockdown was supposed to end on Friday in the east of city in Pudong, where the port is situated, but will now be lifted in phases for different areas. Meanwhile, the more populous west of the city in Puxi will also lockdown for mass testing as planned.
Container terminals in Waigaoqaio and Yangshan have been kept operational with workers staying onsite in what is described as a closed loop to avoid contact with the outside world.
Given restrictions on road transport and requirements for truck drivers to have negative Covid tests within the last 48 hours the port has turned to using more waterborne transport to bring containers in for transhipment to larger vessels rather than trucking through Shanghai city.
As previously reported warehouses are closed, and a growing number of major factories are suspending production – Volkswagen was the latest to say it was suspending part of its factory in Shanghai due to a lack of parts from suppliers.
The lockdowns in previously in Shenzhen and now Shanghai have created other problems such as the testing of fuel samples from bunkering operations.
Rob Levanthal, Business Development Manager, Global Service Line for Bureau Veritas highlighted at CMA Shipping 2022 it was difficult to get samples from ships to labs for testing due to the restrictions. “We have a lab in China and its even hard to get the sample over to the lab because of the restrictions going on,” he said.
One solution is to sail the sample out and drop it off at the next port, however, this means the fuel is already being burned, creating a whole set of other issues, Levanthal explained.
Source: Seatrade Maritime News
