Shanghai Port Delays: Typhoons Disrupt Sailing Schedules

Shipping schedules through Shanghai remain heavily disrupted following a series of typhoons and ongoing operational changes at the port. Delays are currently exceeding 10 days in many cases, while frequent vessel substitutions, port omissions and blank sailings continue to affect schedule reliability.

For freight forwarders moving cargo through Shanghai, additional lead time and close shipment monitoring remain essential.

Typhoons continue to disrupt Shanghai shipping schedules

Since August, multiple typhoons have affected vessel operations across East Asia. Shanghai has been one of the ports experiencing significant disruption.

Severe weather has resulted in port closures, congestion and changes to vessel rotations. Shipping lines have consequently been adjusting their schedules, replacing vessels and omitting planned port calls to limit delays elsewhere in their networks.

Major carriers have already implemented several contingency measures. These include vessel substitutions, alternative routings, delayed departures and blank sailings.

As a result, current delays around Shanghai generally exceed 10 days. In individual cases, disruption caused by vessel changes and rescheduling can extend beyond two weeks.

Vessel schedules remain highly unstable

At the moment, vessel allocations from Shanghai remain difficult to predict.

A scheduled vessel can be replaced, postponed or removed from a rotation at relatively short notice. This makes reliable departure planning more challenging and can also affect connecting services further along the supply chain.

The impact is not limited to one individual carrier or service. Disruption is being seen across several major shipping lines and trade lanes.

For shipments with strict delivery requirements, we therefore recommend allowing additional buffer time when planning cargo from Shanghai.

Dangerous goods procedures may cause additional delays

Operational pressure is also increasing for dangerous goods shipments.

Recent requirements and controls from the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration are affecting the handling and declaration of dangerous goods. The authority continues to apply specific declaration, safety and compliance requirements for vessels carrying dangerous cargo, with additional measures also being introduced around the upcoming Chinese National Day period.

These procedures may result in additional processing time and could further affect already disrupted sailing schedules.

Shippers and freight forwarders handling dangerous goods should therefore take possible additional lead time into account and make sure documentation is submitted correctly and on time.

What does this mean for your shipments?

Given the combination of weather disruption, port congestion, vessel substitutions, blank sailings and changing dangerous goods procedures, we expect schedule reliability in Shanghai to remain under pressure in the near term.

At this stage, it is not possible to determine exactly when operations will return to normal.

Our advice is straightforward: plan with additional buffer, keep your customers informed and check sailing schedules closely.

For time-sensitive shipments, alternative routings may also need to be considered depending on cargo availability, destination and carrier options.

NVO Worldwide keeps you updated

At NVO Worldwide, we monitor developments in Shanghai and across our carrier network closely.

When schedules change, our teams work to keep you informed as quickly and clearly as possible. No unnecessary detours. Just the information you need to manage your shipments and keep your customers updated.

Questions about an upcoming shipment from Shanghai? Contact your local NVO Worldwide team. We are happy to check the available options with you.