It may not have wreaked the havoc its ‘super typhoon’ status suggested, but Typhoon Hinnamnor still managed to cause some major chaos at ports and airports across the north of Asia. After bringing extensive flooding to coastal cities in South Korea, the storm headed northward and operations at the Ports of Ningbo, Shanghai, Yangshan, and Busan were temporally suspended, causing delays.
Ports were closed and hundreds of flights were cancelled right across the region. Inbound pilot services in Shanghai and Ningbo were suspended and all container vessels were asked to be evacuated. Busan and Kwangyang ports were closed as well.
China’s National Meteorological Centre, which issued a yellow typhoon warning, told ships to return to port and take shelter from the storm. By Tuesday, some operations had returned to normal again, however, with a two-day delay in departures.
Vessel TEU capacity calling at the Ports of Ningbo, Shanghai, and Yangshan was reduced as ships avoided the storm’s path on 04-05 Sept. Conversely, operations at the port of Qingdao saw no significant impact from the typhoon.
Shipping schedules from Ningbo had already been under pressure from blank sailings, and now shippers face further delays. Recently, vessels were delayed or cancelled frequently from Ningbo due to lower freight rates on South-east Asia and certain US lanes, now the typhoon may further impact vessel schedules.
For an update on shipping out of China during this week’s Mid Autumn Moon Festival and the upcoming Golden Week holidays, read our article from last week, 01 September.
The typhoon finally pulled up alongside Shanghai – 300 kilometres off the coast in the East China Sea – at around 2pm on Monday 05 September, with heavy rainstorms forcing more than 700 flights to be cancelled at Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports, while many more were delayed. And it wasn’t just Shanghai’s two major airports feeling the typhoon wrath – in neighbouring Zhejiang, airports in Ningbo, Wenzhou, Taizhou and Zhoushan all saw a disruption in services.
Super typhoon Hinnamnor is now continuing its path north in the East China Sea.
For information on shipping schedules and delays – whether from China or elsewhere – as well as freight rates and container availability, talk to us here at Colless Young. As licensed Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders we offer correct, professional advice on all your import and export consignments. We are based in Brisbane and provide a complete range of logistics services for airfreight and sea cargo at all Australian ports and airports.
