Typhoon Dolphin has caused significant disruption across North Asia, leaving more than 2.4 million TEU of containership capacity stranded after striking China’s eastern coast on 9 August 2026.
The storm prompted vessels to shelter away from its path and led to the suspension of terminal operations at Shanghai and Ningbo on 7 and 8 August.
Before the storm reached its peak, vessels destined to these ports had already moved outside the anchorage area. Kuehne+Nagel seaexplorer shows that only one vessel stayed in the official area on 9 August.
In comparison, data from 12 August show that 117 vessels returned to the anchorage area of Shanghai port, and 60 vessels returned to the Ningbo port area.
On a port level as of 12 August, the data shows that the 7-day average vessel waiting time in Ningbo is 2.26 days, increasing by nearly 15 hours compared to last week.
The situation at the Port of Shanghai is more challenging, with the 7-day average waiting reaching 3.95 days. Vessel arrival delays are calculated at 5.63 days, while departure delays are estimated at 5.37 days.
While the storm impacted the larger region, these two ports were the most heavily affected, with delays expected to continue for an extended period.
Congestion has also spread to ports in Southern China and is likely to take several weeks to clear.
A further round of delays faced carriers and shippers after Shanghai and Ningbo were closed over the weekend as the storm reached the East China coast.
The number of vessels affected across the wider East China region has surpassed 200, as illustrated below.
At the time of writing, seven ultra-large container vessels with capacities exceeding 20,000 TEU were awaiting berthing at Ningbo, including the 24,188-TEU OOCL Felixstowe and the 24,116-TEU MSC Raya.
Beyond the port disruptions, the cyclone also affected coastal and inland supply chains. Torrential rain caused extensive flooding in areas stretching north to Beijing and west to Wuhan in Hubei province.
Operational conditions began to improve early in the week as activities at Ningbo resumed on Monday afternoon, while Shanghai resumed operations early on Tuesday.
For the latest port and vessel statuses or situation updates, please refer to the seaexplorer alert map.
