Shanghai re-emerged last week from two months of lockdown. Despite 13 of the city’s 16 districts reimposing lockdown last week, congestion is now back within normal levels, according to data from VesselsValue.
Average waiting times for tankers, bulkers, and containerships at the port of Shanghai peaked in late April at 65 hours. However, since then, waiting times have been steadily reverting to the past levels seen at the time of year.
Average waiting times for containerships, which are the most frequent visitors to the port, peaked at 69 hours at the height of the Omicron wave in late April. They have since reduced back down to last year’s levels and are currently trending around 34 hours and falling.
Average waiting times for dry bulk carriers increased to 75 hours in late April. However, they have been fluctuating between 15-44 hours since early May, well within normal bounds for the time of year, said the analyst.
As much of Shanghai re-enters lockdown, factors such as staff absences that caused congestion to rise in early April do not appear to be such a significant problem this time. Instead, labour strikes in Germany are beginning to lengthen waiting times at Bremerhaven and Wilhelmsen, though curiously not yet at Hamburg.
