China’s largest city went into lockdown on 28 March. While
the lockdown was initially intended to last 10 days, it has now been extended.
On 2 April, Shanghai reported 438 confirmed locally
transmitted cases and 7,788 asymptomatic carriers.
Despite this, operations at the Port of Shanghai remain
active, with industrial companies and customs switching to a two-shift
operation.
Although preventative measures have been implemented at
China’s largest port, authorities across the world are beginning to see delays
in supply chains.
“The COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai is causing a local
lockdown that is also affecting the port,” said the Port of Hamburg in a
statement, noting that Shanghai is now in a state of “emergency” in managing
COVID-19 transmission.
“The extent to which this will have an impact in Hamburg is
not yet foreseeable. This will only become evident in a few weeks’ time.”
For the Port of Hamburg, Shanghai is one of the most
important ports in China trade as they are connected by 13 liner services and
four general cargo services.
In an attempt to alleviate the pressure on road
transportation caused by the impacts of the crisis, the Shanghai International
Port Group (SIPG) has announced the launch of a container “land-to-water”
service, covering the ports in the Yangshan area and Waigaoqiao area of
Shanghai port to related ports in the Yangtze River Delta areas.
Under the service, customers can first transport containers
to the Taicang Service Center, and then transfer them by ship to Shanghai Port
and divert customers’ road transportation needs to waterways.