Multiple typhoons have disrupted port operations in East Asia since July. Particularly in the Shanghai and Ningbo area, there have been service interruptions, delayed vessel arrivals, and backlogs. Freightos reports more than five storms and severe congestion at major Chinese container hubs.
A typhoon's impact extends beyond the actual port closure. Ships wait offshore, lose their berth slots, or skip a port entirely. Containers are then shifted to later departures or transshipped via another port. This transshipment—transferring cargo to another vessel—creates additional touchpoints and potential error sources.
The situation now coincides with the Golden Week holiday in early October. During China's national holidays, many factories and logistics operations run at reduced capacity. Shipping lines adjust their capacity and cancel individual sailings, known as blank sailings. When many exporters want to ship goods before the holidays simultaneously, available capacity can quickly become tight.
For European and Swiss importers, it is therefore not sufficient to know only the scheduled departure date. What matters is whether the container has already been accepted at the terminal, is actually booked on the intended vessel, and whether the port call remains confirmed.
Even after the Golden Week, normalcy does not return immediately. Backlogs typically require several rotation cycles before schedules stabilize again. For seasonal goods, even a one-week delay can already result in stock shortages or expensive airfreight solutions.