Another outbreak of COVID-19 threatens port operations in the city of Ningbo after several positive cases were reported at a clothing factory over the weekend. As a result of the spike in cases, a partial lockdown has been put in place for certain parts of the district of Beilun—which is home to some of Ningbo’s busiest container terminals and warehouses.

Here’s what we know about the current situation at the port:

  1. At this time, port operations remain normal—including vessel berthing and departure.
  2. The container depot that is located in the lockdown area has suspended operations; the port authority used extra truckers to position empties at outside depots.
  3. Truckers with special permits are permitted entry into the port; however, the bigger issue is when truckers depart the factory to load out of Ningbo.
  4. Officials are working to trace the source of the cases; increased testing of workers and truckers will likely lead to delays at the terminals.
  5. Railway and barge operations in the province or from neighboring provinces are currently not impacted.

Shapiro is closely monitoring the situation and will provide status updates as they become available.