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The world’s largest port is said to be operating normally as industry players dismiss online reports that more than 300 ships are waiting to berth
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Shanghai International Port Group says it has taken strategic measures to ensure smooth flow of goods to the industrial and supply chains in the Yangtze River Delta and the world
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The port’s loadings of 396 last week are still below its peak capacity of more than 400, a spokesman of Shanghai International Shipping Institute said on local TV
Shanghai Port, the world’s largest shipping hub, is operating normally, with no delays in vessel loading and off-loading of cargo, said industry players, as they debunked online reports about more than 300 ships still waiting to berth.
The port is “operating as usual to guarantee the smooth flow of goods along the industrial and supply chains in the Yangtze River Delta region as well as the world,” the insiders were quoted by China Daily as saying on April 4.
Shanghai International Port Group, the exclusive operator of all port terminals in the city, was reported as saying it has employed several strategies to ensure the port’s continued safety and nonstop operation. SIPG released an April 3 photo of Shanghai Port operating normally, with no signs of congestion.
Chinese media reported that port data showed operations were normal and no container ship had suffered delays to loading or offloading since February, Chinese media reported.
Chen Lan, head of SIPG’s market development center, was reported as saying that as of Sunday, April 3, a total of 52 ships were waiting to be handled. These included nine container ships, four of which were waiting for a berth.
Chen made the comments in response to disinformation spreading online claiming that more than 300 ships were still waiting to load and unload.
Maersk and other large liner companies servicing Chinese ports said in their updates on the lockdown in China’s financial capital that the waiting time in Asian ports is generally between one and two days, and that the average wait at Shanghai Port is shorter than at other major ports in South and North Asia.
Another insider said the port’s off-loadings last week were still below its peak capacity.
“Shanghai Port completed 396 offloads last week, which means that the port has yet to reach its peak capacity of more than 400 off-loadings,” Xu Kai, chief information officer of the Shanghai International Shipping Institute, told International Channel Shanghai.
China Daily said measures to ensure stable and smooth operations, as well as logistics efficiency, at Shanghai Port included “optimizing the city’s transport system, reusing empty container boxes, diversifying transportation models, and issuing pandemic control passes for container trucks more efficiently.”
The reports said despite the impact of COVID-19 on the global shipping industry, Shanghai Port has been rated the world’s largest container port for 12 consecutive years. Last year, the port reported its container throughput exceeded 47 million TEUs.
