(Yicai Global) April 4 -- The operator of the Port of Shanghai has denied rumors claiming the world’s largest port by container throughput is suffering from severe congestion because of the latest Covid-19 outbreak that stroke the city, Yicai Global learned.

Shanghai International Port Group told Yicai Global that the media reports about the congestion are groundless and only create panic. The Port of Shanghai is operating normally 24 hours a day, the number of vessels waiting to berth is in single digit, and the average waiting days are within the normal range, SIPG added.

Covid-19 has affected land logistics in the Port of Shanghai, SIPG said, noting that it implemented a series of measures, including helping shipping firms to transport empty containers inland, moving containers by ship and railway with the aid of liner companies China COSCO Shipping, Maersk, and CMA CGM, and integrating the electronic bill of lading with Shanghai’s health code and nucleic acid testing certificate, to improve transport efficiency.

A screenshot of the marine traffic map of the Shanghai waters crowded with ships have been circulating on social media recently, with comments claiming that hundred of ocean-going freighters have been stranded offshore, leading to a supply chain crisis, that the number of ships waiting to be loaded and unloaded at the port has exceeded 300 this week, and that this is similar to the US West Coast port congestion.

The Yangtze River estuary is the world’s busiest waterway so it is normal to have many ships there, an insider in the shipping industry said.

“The picture that circulated online includes all ships entering, leaving, and passing by the Port of Shanghai and does not specify whether the freighters with automatic identification system off were still there or already left,” Wang Hai, editor-in-chief at Beyond Shipping told Yicai Global, noting that some of them may also be fishing boats. Moreover, the proportion of the picture is abnormal and creates a dense visual effect, he added.

The number of ships waiting in the waters near Shanghai swelled fivefold in two and a half weeks, mainly because of the surging amount of dry bulk carriers and oil tankers waiting to enter the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, Wang said, citing data from ship data provider VesselsValue. Most ships in Shanghai are container ships and their number has not increased, he pointed out.

The waiting time for ships to berth in Asian ports is usually one to two days because of the pandemic outbreaks in the period between the Lunar New Year and last month, according to data released by Maersk and other shipping companies in March. The figure in the Port of Shanghai is lower than that in ports in southern and northern China.

Editor: Futura Costaglione