Chinese Ports Choke Over 'Zero Tolerance' COVID-19 Policy
Several Chinese ports are facing congestion as vessels due to call at Ningbo are being diverted and cargo processing is slowed partly due to stricter disinfection measures under China's "zero-tolerance" coronavirus policy.On Tuesday, more than 50 container vessels were queuing at Ningbo port, China's second largest marine center, Refinitiv data showed, up from 28 on Aug. 10 when a COVID-19 case was reported at one of its terminals.Leading international shipping groups have warned their clients of delays and route adjustments.
Guangzhou Halts Foreign Coal Imports
Port handles 60 mln tonnes/year of foreign and domestic seaborne coal. Guangzhou port, the largest coal transport hub in southern China, has halted foreign coal imports, according to traders who use the port and said they had been informed of the shutdown by customs authorities and senior company officials. Traders said the move caught merchants using Guangzhou by surprise and interpreted it as a sign of Beijing stepping up its campaign to cut pollution caused by the burning of coal. China already banned coal imports at small ports in July but Guangzhou has 14 coal berths and can handle 60 million tonnes of shipments per year. Chinese coal imports in the first seven months of 2017 totalled 110 million tonnes, an average of over 15.7 million tonnes a month.
MOL Receives Permission to Call at Hong Kong
ROTTERDAM, 8 April 2011 – Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) today reported that the MOL-operated containership MOL PRESENCE arrived in Hong Kong, and received permission to call at the port at 14:00 JST on Friday, April 8 (local time: 13:00), 2011. On March 22, the company received a report alleging higher than normal radiation had been detected on the MOL PRESENCE during quarantine inspection at Xiamen Port in Fujian Province, PRC. However, on-site inspection by a third party was not approved, so the MOL PRESENCE departed Xiamen on March 27, and was again inspected by Nippon Kaiji Kentei Kyokai off Kobe Port on March 30. Subsequent to that inspection, MOL received a report that the detected radiation level was significantly lower than the level detected in Xiamen.
A.P. Moller - Maersk Group and Xiamen Port Celebrate Opening of Terminal
A.P. Moller - Maersk Group and Xiamen Port (Group) held a grand opening ceremony for the Xiamen Songyu Phase I Container Terminal at Songyu Port, Xiamen. Madam Wu Yi, Vice Premier of the State Council, presided over the opening ceremony in the presence of Madam Ma Xiuhong, Vice Minister of Commerce. More than 200 people attended the event, including government officials from Fujian province and the city of Xiamen, as well as senior executives from the Xiamen Port Group and from A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, including Mr. Tom Behrens-Sorensen, Group Executive Vice President, and Mr. Richard Nicholson, Vice President for APM Terminals in the Greater China Area. APM Terminals is the terminal operating unit of A.P. Moller - Maersk Group.
