US Ports Fight to Stay Open amid Unfolding COVID-19 Crisis
Shipping lines have canceled 20 voyages to the Port of Oakland, one of the 10 busiest container seaports in the U.S., between February and April 2020, the port informed.
The blanking of sailings is attributed to reduced demand for ship space because of China’s manufacturing downturn caused by the lockdown measures imposed in the country to curb the coronavirus oubreak.
The port said that ocean carriers are scuttling dozens of more sailings to ports worldwide through spring, which is likely to result in a decline in March import volume, as well.
Port of Oakland’s containerized export volume increased 15.4 percent last month over February 2019, making it the busiest February for export cargo in the past six years, the port said.
Much of the volume increase was ascribed to growth in agricultural exports – especially refrigerated perishables.
The port’s exports account for 51 percent of its loaded container volume so far, in 2020, while imports account for 49 percent of the total. The port handles more than 2.5 million cargo containers annually.
The port said its February import volume declined 9.2 percent compared to the same period last year amid the usual slumps following Lunar New Year holidays in Asia, where most Oakland imports originate, as well as prolonged factory shutdowns in China.
The port remains operational despite an Alameda County shelter-in-place order issued on March 16, intended to slow the spread of coronavirus. Under the restrictions, only essential businesses are permitted to remain open.
The San Francisco Bay Area is the hardest-hit region in California with more than 290 confirmed COVID-19 infections.
“Our operations are critical to the health, safety, infrastructure and economy of our region,” said Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan. “We will continue to function as a vital gateway for global trade and transportation while doing everything possible to protect our employees, customers and business partners.”
The port said marine terminals would continue to load and unload cargo from ships, and that the airport would go on with its daily schedule of inbound and departing flights.
The port plans to adopt a resilience plan to staff its operations while minimizing employee exposure to coronavirus. Until now, the port hasn’t received any reports of employees, customers or business partners testing positive for coronavirus.
Shipping lines and marine terminal operators have said they’ll continue operations in Oakland, according to the port, which has also met with longshore union officials to determine what staffing levels could be expected on the docks.
The port added it would adopt social distancing protocols at its facilities and that it was also conferring with marine terminal operators on how best to sanitize seaport operations.
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