Looming lockdowns in China make global shipping jittery

The global shipping industry will have to develop contingency plans in case Covid-19 cases continue to surge in China, more so because it happens to be the world’s most important nation for shipping movements.
Already, ports like the one in Singapore and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates have barred ships from changing crew members who have recently travelled from India, making it difficult for seafarers to be relieved at the end of their contract periods.
According to reports, the Chinese port of Zhoushan has banned entry for any ships or crew that have visited India or Bangladesh, which has also struggled with a COVID surge in the past three months.
The delta variant has made inroads into many countries defenses and China is no exception. Although, it has got some of the stringent protocols in the world yet, infection has reached nearly half of China’s 32 provinces in just two weeks. While the overall number of infections — more than 360 so far — is still lower than COVID resurgences elsewhere, the alarming spread points at the virulent nature of the variant forcing millions of Chinese to go under lockdown.