End of Yantian turmoil in sight?
The Chinese Port of Yantian, which handles 13 million teu per year, regularly keeps causing turmoil due to a pandemic outbreak that started several weeks ago. According to the American maritime consultancy Project 44, rising numbers of re-routings and dwell times take their toll.
Over the period of 1 June to 15 June, almost 300 container vessels with a combined capacity of about three million teu skipped the port.
In a press release, Project 44 estimates that the number of scheduled blank sailings announced by major carriers will remain elevated until 24 June, before falling off somewhat — assuming Chinese authorities are able to contain the virus, and allow ocean-freight carriers to return to normal operations.
The seven-day average of median dwell times on export containers from the Yantian terminal doubled in number, reaching 23.06 days on 15 June 2021.
The mean dwell times on import containers into Yantian were lower, at 5.96 days for the same period, suggesting that carriers are avoiding the port. Between the dates of 1 June 1 and 15 June, the average dwell time for POL was 18.61 days, up 127.5% over the same time period a month earlier. (cd)