Container Explosion in China’s Ningbo Port Complicates Pacific Trade Routes

A container “loaded with lithium batteries” exploded Friday on a cargo ship in China’s high-traffic Ningbo port. Ningbo Zhoushan Port was experiencing a severe heatwave when explosion took place. No injuries were reported, but the terminal has been closed until further notice. Ningbo-Zhoushan, China’s second-highest traffic port and third busiest in the world, is located in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. Ningbo’s volume was reported at 33.35 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2023.

“For container trading companies and those involved in container leasing, this incident presents some straightforward challenges worth accounting for,” said Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of Container xChange, “The disruption at the Ningbo Port, combined with pre-existing congestion at major Asian ports, will lead to a deterioration of ocean schedules and further delays in container availability in the coming weeks. Companies must prepare for increased dwell times and a tightening of available container supplies, especially for hazardous and dangerous goods.”

YM Mobility is operated by Taiwanese vessel owner Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. was deployed on the Far East to Middle East route (CGX).  According to the shipper’s declaration, the container was a reefer used as a substitute for a dry container, without requiring power connection.

Hapag-Lloyd said its ships were waiting up to four days to berth at Ningbo before the explosion because of bad weather, with Expeditors putting the pre-explosion dwell time at up to nine days, depending on the terminal.

Berthing delays are also affecting Shanghai, Xiaman, Busan and further south in Hong Kong, Singapore and Port Klang, carriers and forwarders said Friday. Carriers have also added extra loaders to call at Hong Kong to pick up transshipment cargo unloaded early in the rotations due to delays at nearby ports, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust told the Journal of Commerce.