China's Ningbo-Zhoushan container port remained partially sealed for a conservative sixth day on Monday. The world's third busiest port being closed down raises concerns over whether the closing will interrupt trade from the province for an extended period.
No further updates have been published by the port about its activities since Wednesday when all the inbound and outbound container services were discontinued at its Meishan terminal. The halt was placed when one worker in the port tested positive for Coronavirus.
It has been estimated by Consultant GardaWorld that the terminal calculates for 25 per cent of container cargo through the port, although Ningbo-Zhoushan has asserted that the ships to the other terminals would be redirected and the operating hours will be altered according to at other docks.
The employee with the port's media centre said that there were no new details to the shares when they were reached on Monday, sources said. Meanwhile, added that there have been no cases of Covid infections after the one case that was initially reported.
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Clients have been alerted about a probable 'port congestion' due to the partial closure by the shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp, meanwhile, Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd. in a Saturday notice has promoted the customers to check for the terminals before they at arrange for their containers to be carried to Ningbo.
On Friday, Maersk said that it will send vessels on services between Asia and South America to the Meishan terminal, while the Ningbo will be rejected for this month.
Yards at Beilun and Yongzhou terminals are about 79 per cent filled with loaded containers and around 85% for empty boxes, Maersk said on Monday.
Other terminals at the port, meantime, are running as usual.
China after getting control over the Coronavirus disease that broke in Wuhan in 2019, the country has taken a zero-tolerance attitude towards Covid-19 and strong steps are initiated by the authorities to stop the spread of the virus, mostly at strategic locations like ports.
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This recent port disruption was followed by the halting for a month of Shenzhen’s Yantian port in late May, which resulted from an outbreak amongst the port staff.
This has stirred fears that ports across the world may come across similar eruptions soon, following the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus - the Delta variant, that has already prompted nations to put lockdown and restrictions. The shipping industry was globally impacted last year due to the curbs that were imposed concerning the virus.