Due to rising cases of COVID-19, the lockdown in Shanghai has been extended – sparking congestion fears amongst port officials.

China’s largest city went into lockdown on 28 March. While the lockdown was initially intended to last 10 days, it has now been extended.

On 2 April, Shanghai reported 438 confirmed locally transmitted cases and 7,788 asymptomatic carriers.

Despite this, operations at the Port of Shanghai remain active, with industrial companies and customs switching to a two-shift operation.

Although preventative measures have been implemented at China’s largest port, authorities across the world are beginning to see delays in supply chains.

“The COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai is causing a local lockdown that is also affecting the port,” said the Port of Hamburg in a statement, noting that Shanghai is now in a state of “emergency” in managing COVID-19 transmission.

“The extent to which this will have an impact in Hamburg is not yet foreseeable. This will only become evident in a few weeks’ time.”

For the Port of Hamburg, Shanghai is one of the most important ports in China trade as they are connected by 13 liner services and four general cargo services.

In an attempt to alleviate the pressure on road transportation caused by the impacts of the crisis, the Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) has announced the launch of a container “land-to-water” service, covering the ports in the Yangshan area and Waigaoqiao area of Shanghai port to related ports in the Yangtze River Delta areas.

Under the service, customers can first transport containers to the Taicang Service Center, and then transfer them by ship to Shanghai Port and divert customers’ road transportation needs to waterways.