China’s increasingly extreme "COVID zero" policies are standing in the way of a full recovery for the shipping industry and prolonging a crisis that’s snarled ports and emptied shelves worldwide.
In its attempts to keep the virus out, China has continued to prohibit crew changes for foreign crew and recently imposed as much as a seven-week mandatory quarantine for returning Chinese seafarers. Even vessels that have refreshed their crew elsewhere have to wait two weeks before they’re allowed to port in China.
To comply, shipowners and managers have had to reroute ships, delaying shipments and crew changes, adding to the supply chain crisis. "China’s restrictions cause knock-on effects,” said Guy Platten, the secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents shipowners and operators. "Any restrictions to ship operations have an accumulative impact on the supply chain and cause real disruptions.”
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