Following the closure of the Meidong terminal on Wednesday due to a COVID-19 outbreak, container lines have begun to skip or postpone calls in Ningbo, in East China’s Zhejiang province.

CMA CGM said in a statement issued from its China office on Thursday that it would skip one call at the Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal — also known as the Meishan Island terminal — and change the schedules of two other sailings scheduled to call the port in the coming days. Cosco Shipping informed shippers/forwarders on Thursday that two trans-Pacific ships, the Cosco Fortune and Cosco Africa, would be reassigned.

There is a growing concern that the omissions and diversions will mean a series of backlogs at other ports. That was the case at the Yantian International Container Terminals when it had to partially shut down for four weeks from late May.

Here are the ships which are due to call Ningbo and are at risk:

• 11,356 TEU CMA CGM Centaurus
• 17,722 TEU CMA CGM Kerguelen
• 8,533 TEU CMA CGM Melisande

CMA CGM Samson, which operates on the PEX3 route, and CMA CGM Rivilo, which operates on the FAL1 service, are presently docked at Meidong, according to the carrier. In addition, CMA CGM informed customers on Thursday that a Cosco-operated ship on the Gulf of Mexico Express (GMXP) service, as well as a PIL-operated ship on the Red Sea Express 2 service, will miss Ningbo.

It’s likely that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak at the Meidong terminal will be less severe than the outbreak at Yantian at the end of May but will still be an impactful event.  Worldwide Logistics will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as appropriate.