Shanghai in Lockdown - Interview with Lay Kwan and Rajiv Ghose

Rajiv, what is the current situation?

Rajiv: the City of Shanghai has been locked down for more than two weeks. The important thing is that are the Chinese government and Port of Shanghai (SIPG) is trying their best to minimise the impact on Chinese ports due to the lockdown. All ports are operating normally, including Shanghai, with limited waiting times. However, the lockdown outside the terminals has created an impact at the port.

What are the main problems?

Rajiv: Customers are having challenges to pick up their cargo at the port. That means there are too few trucks- going in and out of the port to pick up or deliver containers and their employees maybe affected by the lockdown. Especially with reefer traffic and dangerous goods, we have the problem that cargo is not being picked up and is blocking these special areas in the terminal yards. Reefer containers are currently standing in the terminal more than six days. Normally, the trucker picks up the perishable goods within two to three days at the latest. We need the power connections in the port for newly arriving reefer goods, which are occupied by these reefer containers.

Lay Kwan, what are we doing to improve the situation?

Lay Kwan: Our colleagues in China are in close contact with the customers to explore possible change of destination. We are also working closely with the terminals on acceptance of reefer and DG cargo discharge on per voyage basis. Over the past few days, Shanghai Port Group has secured additional reefer plugs outside terminal and so far, no reefer has been turned away. Though there is still uncertainty and some Reefers/Dangerous cargo might be denied for discharge, we are confident that Shanghai Port Group together with Chinese Authority will continue to grant assistance to Carriers and overcome these challenges. You have to remember, within the last two years, we had times when cities and ports around the world were in lockdown. Even then, our operations continued.

How are the Hapag-Lloyd employees on site?

Lay Kwan: Our colleagues in Shanghai are working from home to ensure we keep our flow going under the lockdown situation. The circumstances are hard – but they are doing an excellent job while struggling to get daily necessities including food under these special conditions. The team deserves massive credit and we thank them for their tireless efforts and their admirable resilience.