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Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) congestion and vessel delays to take more than seven to eight days
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Situation at Greater China Yantian/Shekou ports “continues to deteriorate as more positive COVID cases have been confirmed in Shenzhen”
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Operation in the eastern area of YICT where mother vessels mainly berth continues to experience low productivity, operating about 30% of normal level
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With these disruptions, several vessels will be omitting the Yantian and Shekou ports in order to protect schedule reliability
Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, is expected to experience congestion and vessel delays of more than seven to eight days in the coming week as the terminal remains partially closed due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, according to a new Maersk update.
Following its May 29 advisory, Maersk on May 31 said the situation at the Greater China Yantian/Shekou ports “continues to deteriorate as more positive COVID cases have been confirmed in Shenzhen where Yantian port and Shekou port are located.”
The carrier added that YICT yard density remains elevated as disinfection and quarantine measures are continuously implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Operation in the eastern area of the terminal where mother vessels mainly berth continues to experience low productivity, operating about 30% of the normal level.
“We expect continued terminal congestion and vessel delays upwards of 7-8 days in the coming week,” Maersk said.
YICT updated the control measures as follows:
- All operations in the western area of YICT have been suspended until further notice.
- From 12 a.m. of May 31, export laden container gate-in resumes. Meantime, from May 31 to June 6, CY-open will be available only to vessels within ETA-3 days only after the terminal confirms the advance reservation made by trucking companies for laden containers gate-in.
- Import laden container pick-up, which is mainly concentrated in the eastern area of the port, maintains normal operations.
To ensure terminal safety and service standard, Shekou port covering Chiwan Container Terminal, Mawan Container Terminal and Shekou Container Terminal updated the control measure as follows:
- From 12 a.m. of June 1, export laden container gate-in will be accepted only to vessels within ETA-5 days.
With these disruptions, several vessels will be omitting the ports of Yantian and Shekou in order to protect schedule reliability, said the container carrier.
Export empty pick-up at Yantian retains normal operations except for Greeting Fortune Depot. The 40-foot general purpose and 40-foot high cube empty supply has been negatively impacted by the vessel delays. Maersk said it offers customers cross pick-up at Shekou port if export containers need to gate in Yantian and cross pick-up at Yantian or Shekou with no additional charge if customers move laden containers to Nansha port as loading.
Import empty return at Yantian is suspended. It is operated at Shekou instead, said Maersk.
Trucking service into YICT needs to be reserved in advance and export laden containers gate-in are subject to the confirmation issued by YICT. For customers who require cross pick-up at Shekou or laden containers into Nansha, Maersk said it can provide inland drayage as alternative solution.
Photo by Gigel.atat
