Vessels Restart Docking At Container Terminal In Ningbo, China After A Temporary Shutdown
Ships have restarted berthing and activities have resumed at a container terminal in Ningbo, China that was temporarily shut. This has added to the hope that all activities at one of the world’s busiest ports shall soon be restored. The temporary shutdown that lasted for two weeks aimed to quarantine dockworkers.
According to shipping data, at least five container vessels have departed the Meishan terminal, Ningbo over the past few days after berthing. While container collection services had still been halted until Tuesday, some vessels had been permitted to berth, officials from the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port have said.
The movement of ships has naturally triggered optimism among the shippers. It is a sign that operations are likely to resume soon as no new Covid-19 cases have been recorded, per reports from local media.
The Meishan terminal has again started selective vessel operations from 18 August. It is expected to have a return to full operations but gradually over the coming weeks, shipping line CMA CGM SA said in an advisory to customers.
Two ships from CMA CGM SA named the Samson, and the Rivoli had been completing cargo operations and were expected to depart “soon”. The ships have since left Ningbo, and another vessel, the Taurus, reached Meishan on Sunday. It is presently docked there.
On Monday, CMA’s Elbe also arrived at the terminal after a week-long wait at anchorage.
The Meishan terminal that accounts for about a quarter of the Ningbo port’s container throughput had been paused on 11 August, when a worker had been infected with the Delta variant of Covid-19.
The temporary closure of the third-busiest container port had heavily impacted operations at the major gateways, including Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Xiamen. This is because ships had been diverted amid uncertainty over how long Covid-19 measures in the city would last.
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