Asian Port Updates and Upcoming Holidays

In China, Meishan Terminal in Ningbo port has reopened, following a Covid-related shutdown in August. Please be aware of office closures in China for the upcoming holidays of Mid-Autumn festival (Sept 19-21) and National Day Golden Week (October 1-7).

India is starting to ease Covid restrictions, although the number of cases continue to be high. Labour shortages persist, impacting trucking, rail, ports, and customs. Container services from India and the surrounding areas to the US West Coast are limited with many shipping lines choosing to omit Indian ports to recover schedule integrity.

Vietnam remains in lockdown until at least September 15th with many factories closed. The factories that are open are operating at a limited capacity of 50-70%. Bangladesh is experiencing an acute shortage of equipment, especially 40’ containers. Colombo and Singapore ports are very congested, creating challenges to shipping goods on time. All this news adds to the uncertainty, changes, and delays in vessel schedules.