The number of container vessels waiting outside China’s ports has nearly doubled since February, as the lockdown in Shanghai continues and many other Chinese cities face restrictions due to Covid-19.
The number of container vessels waiting outside Chinese ports has increased by 195 percent since February, according to data from Windward’s Maritime AI platform, as first Shenzhen and then Shanghai were shut down in March and April, respectively. Shanghai has been under lockdown for three weeks.
“The trend is very clear in the April and March snapshots, there were 506 and 470 vessels, respectively, stuck outside of Chinese ports. In February, that number was only 260. In essence, lockdowns in China have nearly doubled the congestion outside the country’s ports,” Windward said.
In April it was noted that out of the 1,826 container vessels waiting at ports for berthing globally, some 27.7% are at Chinese ports, compared to 14.8% according to Windward. China has been able to keep its ports operational during the recent lockdowns using a closed loop system where the workers live on site, however, container yards have grown highly congested as trucking has been severely impacted by the need for drivers to have a negative test in the last 48 hours. Warehouses have also been closed, and even where factory production has been able to get back up and running there are reports of a shortage of parts.
