Saturday, June 28, 2025
Home Most Popular Wait-and-see as Shanghai back into lockdown

Wait-and-see as Shanghai back into lockdown

A Covid-19 flare-up in Shanghai just eight days after emerging from a two-month lockdown has returned the port city to square one, raising concerns of more slowdowns in the world’s busiest container port.

Residents in 14 of Shanghai’s 16 districts have been ordered to test for Covid-19 over the weekend, after 11 cases were detected yesterday (9 June). Residents will be confined for two days and testing is expected to take 12 days.

Linerlytica analyst Tan Hua Joo told Container News that for shipping, the situation may not be that serious. “Clearly, it’s a setback, but the impact was mitigated in the last round as cargoes were able to divert to Ningbo port,” he noted.

Calls to Maersk Line’s Shanghai office said that the company’s operations are as per its 1 June advisory, although the Danish giant is minimising office work and continuing to make most staff work from home.

Maersk said that trucking is still available in China’s main ports and nearby cities, providing the drivers test negative for Covid-19, adding that such services gradually improved after the previous outbreak was controlled.

Warehouses in Shanghai resumed normal operations on 1 June, and Maersk staff said that nothing has changed. However, drivers entering the warehouses must test negative for Covid-19 in the 24 hours prior, if they had been outside of Zhejiang province.

Cargoes will not be accepted if drivers have been to the medium-high risk area in the last 14 days.

A spokesperson for Ocean Network Express (ONE) told Container News that the company is not restricting the acceptance of container shipments to and from Shanghai.

Even as many countries are now treating Covid-19 as endemic, China is maintaining a zero-Covid-19 stance.

Today (10 June), Yang Ming disclosed that some crew members on its 4,662 TEU ship YM Essence, serving the Asia-US East Coast route, tested positive for Covid-19 while en route from Kaohsiung to the southern Chinese port of Yantian.

The Taiwanese ocean carrier said, “The affected crews were immediately isolated and necessary measures were taken with crew change in Kaohsiung. The vessel has completed cleaning and sanitisation.”

YM Essence arrived and berthed in Yantian on 7 June and departed yesterday, expecting to arrive in Savannah on 25 June.


Martina Li
Asia Correspondent





Latest Posts

Suez slowdown reshapes Red Sea’s port map

The macro picture of the Red Sea is worsen as canal transits are at half-mast, and the region has relinquished its role as the...

We asked AI: When containers become pools

We asked AI what a container might look like if it was trasformed into a pool. The result? Long steel containers, many of them stacked,...

Transpacific crash may normalise charter market

Containership charter rates, which have defied the freight slump for some time, could be peaking, as some small ships chartered by opportunistic operators for...

Shipping alliances carriers and MSC control over 80% of market

As the container shipping industry continues its transformation, strategic cooperation among carriers remains a key force shaping global trade. According to updated Alphaliner data,...

Konecranes delivers crane package for BAE Systems’ in Scotland

Konecranes has completed a turnkey crane project for BAE Systems’ brand-new shipbuilding hall in Govan, Scotland. The installation, finished in June 2025, includes two electric...
error: Content is protected !!