What we have seen coming across our desk at the association over the past two years of COVID is that, with the COVID-zero policy in China, what they require is quarantining and locking down entire ports, for example, even with a few cases, so you have several things creating a domino effect in the supply chain.
You have a port shutdown and a lack of employees to service the outgoing ships, so the ocean carriers have to re-create a schedule and, as a result, they will take capacity out of the system. They will start avoiding certain ports or, depending on where they consider a priority, they will stop calling at various ports. “Cancelling sailings” is the term.
Then you end up with situations where you have chartered ghost ships that are appearing with no berth available at ports, or you have delays in the transit adding more time to the transit time and the expected arrival of the ship. It creates a domino effect down the chain with regard to the inland delivery of the goods and the availability of staff to off-load the ships.