Two and a half months after the crisis at the port of Yantian, which was forced to suspend operations at two terminals following an outbreak of Covid-19, China is facing another epidemic emergency, this time at Ningbo, the world’s third busiest container port.
Ningbo Meidong container terminal, located on Meishan Island, brought operations to a halt after a port worker tested positive to the coronavirus.
The 34-year-old man has been quarantined at a designated hospital. Local officials said that staff and vehicles are now prohibited from entering the Meishan port area, where operations have been halted. It is not yet known when the facility will be reopened.
The episode puts further pressure on an already rather tense situation. Analysts fear new disruptions to the logistics chain and exports after those that paralyzed the port of Yantian for over a month.
In 2020, the Meishan port area handled 5.4 million TEUs, 20% of the 27 million TEUs handled by the entire port of Ningbo. In the same period, Yantian handled 13.3 million TEUs.
Translation by Giles Foster
