Some of the world’s most congested container terminals have halted operations as Typhoon Chanthu made landfall in East China’s Zhejiang Province and Shanghai.
The Typhoon, making landfall on Shanghai on 13 September, was issued a red alert – the most severe alert level – by Zhejiang Province officials on the evening of 12 September, according to state media.
Despite Zhejiang Province’s move to red, China’s national observatory kept its orange alert for the Typhoon. The country has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue, state media Xinhua reported.
Municipal authorities have closed schools and the majority of public transport services, as well as suspending operations at Shanghai Yangshan deep water port, which handled 43.5 million TEU in 2020.
Further south at Ningbo-Zhoushan port, terminal operators slowed or suspended operations on 12 September evening to prepare for Typhoon Chanthu to make landfall.
The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, which processed 20 million TEU from January to August 2021, is another critical container hub in the East China region and has experienced a number of setbacks such as a COVID-19 outbreak at one of its terminals in August 2021.
Chanthu is making its way north towards Shanghai on 13 September, but is currently graded as a Category 2 as the storm loses power making landfall.
