Due to the epidemic, Shanghai has implemented regional control. According to VesselsValue, the number of ships waiting in line near Shanghai has increased by five times in two and a half weeks. However, the number of container ships has not seen a significant increase, mainly dry bulk ships and oil tankers.

The Office of the Shanghai Leading Group for COVID-19 Prevention and Control issued a circular on The evening of July 27, announcing a new round of cut and-mesh nucleic acid screening across the city.

Shanghai began nucleic acid screening in batches along the Huangpu River starting at 5 am Monday.

In the first batch, Pudong, Punan and adjacent areas (including the whole Pudong New Area, Fengxian District, Jinshan District, Chongming District, Pujin Street, Pujiang Town, Xinbang Town, Shihulang Town, Maogang Town and Yexie Town of Minhang District) were first put into lockdown and nucleic acid screening. The lockdown was lifted at 5 o 'clock on April 1. At the same time, key areas of Puxi continue to implement containment management.

For the second batch, containment and nucleic acid screening were carried out in Puxi from 3 o 'clock on April 1 in accordance with the principle of stubble suppression. The containment was unsealed at 3 o 'clock on April 5.

Buses, subways, ferries, taxis and online taxi services will be suspended within the lockdown area. Vehicles related to epidemic prevention and control, emergency medical treatment, life support, urban operation and emergency response shall pass through after being verified by district governments or competent departments of various industries and other vehicles shall not be allowed to drive unless necessary.

Although SIPG has issued a notice to customers that all production units in Hong Kong will operate 24 hours a day, due to the impact of the epidemic caused by land traffic control, there are still a large number of ships waiting to berth in the waters near Shanghai.

The number of ships waiting to be loaded/unloaded in Shanghai has increased nearly fivefold in the past two and a half weeks, according to VesselsValue, a globally renowned online valuation and market intelligence provider for aviation and maritime.

Chart of number of vessels waiting to be loaded/unloaded in Shanghai waters Source: VesselsValue Data as of March 30

As of March 30, 347 ships of all types were waiting near the Port of Shanghai, according to data provided by VesselsValue for Sinde Maritime network.

Vivek Srivastava, senior trade analyst at VesselsValue, said queues in Shanghai were normally a bit crowded at this time of year, but the recent increase was much higher than last year and normal seasonal levels. Broken down by ship type, dry bulk carriers and tankers are the main causes of congestion (figure 2 below). Instead, six fewer container ships lined up than on March 9.

Statistics chart of vessels waiting near Shanghai by vessel type source: VesselsValue Data as of March 30

The reduction in container ship queues may be mainly due to major shipping lines opting to jump ports. In response to the impact of the epidemic on Shanghai Port, maersk, COSCO Shipping, Haberot, Matson and other large shipping companies issued business adjustment announcements: ONE postponed some routes or even cancelled calling Shanghai Port; Maersk said its Shanghai warehouse would be closed from March 28 to April and predicted that trucking services in and out of Shanghai would be severely affected by 30% due to nucleic acid testing demand. Matson will suspend the use of the original container points and transfer to other yards; The business adjustment of other shipping companies is mainly to work online at home and transfer the business in the location-controlled area (Pudong).

On March 30, the number of dry bulk ships waiting near Shanghai was 129, the number of oil tankers was and the number of container ships was gradually reduced to 39, along with 48 general cargo ships, 17 gas carriers and seven other types of ships.

Vivek Srivastava said it was unclear how Shanghai's closure would affect ship queues at the port, however, he suggested supply chain managers and analysts around the world needed to start planning for the possible knock-on effects.