Vessels calling on Yangtze river ports may face delays
Map of Yangtze river ports
From 21 April, vessels that call on Yangtze river ports may experience delays due to river pilot shortages, according to Eastport Maritime China Agency Dept. Foreign vessels that have called on foreign countries (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) within the last 14 days will have to use special river pilots and may have to wait for a few days at CJK due to shortages of such pilots. Vessels are not allowed to drop anchor at anchorages in Changjiang river ports, especially if these vessels have travelled to COVID-19 countries* and/or had a crew change there within the past 14 days, according to Eastport China. Quarantine inspections are only performed in the daytime. For certain areas**, as vessels cannot anchor in the Changjiang river, they can berth directly in the evening if the river POB schedule at Baoshan is not too late (depending on port, the timing will vary). Some vessels have been seen waiting at CJK for a few days due to unsuitable tides. For Zhenjiang, Yizheng and Nanjing, vessels can drop anchor overnight at Taicang, Nantong or Changzhou anchorages and pilots can go off board in the evening provided there is permission from port authorities. If these anchorages are not available, vessels must wait at CJK instead. Delayed vessel journeys are to be expected with difficulties in arranging berthing schedules.
* Countries: Korea, Japan, Iran, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Bahrain, India, Cambodia, Kuwait, Israel, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Croatia, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Czechs, Portuguesa, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey, San Marino, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Croatia, Albania, Cyprus, Belarus, Bosnia, Northern Macedonia, Moldova, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Australia
** Areas: Taicang, Changshu, Nantong, Zhangjiagang, Jiangyin, Changzhou and Taizhou