East Asia port recovery remains fragile as Maersk flags renewed typhoon risk

**Verified development.** On 18 September 2026, Maersk said that port performance and vessel flows in East Asia were gradually improving after a succession of typhoon-related disruptions, but described operating conditions as still challenging. The carrier said it and terminal partners were applying staged measures to manage cargo flows and improve terminal fluidity. It also said current meteorological information indicated that another typhoon could develop during week 39, from 21 to 27 September. Maersk did not identify a storm name, forecast track, affected ports, or a firm timetable for normalisation. ([maersk.com](https://www.maersk.com/news/articles/2026/09/18/east-asia-typhoon-season-update-2?utm_source=openai))

The update is significant because recovery is occurring from an already disrupted operating base rather than from normal berth, yard and equipment conditions. Kuehne+Nagel’s most recent detailed port update, covering 2–8 September, recorded average vessel waiting times of about 3.58 days at Ningbo and 4.72 days at Shanghai. It reported that Ningbo had been closed for 78 hours during the preceding week because of Typhoon Saudel, while Shanghai’s Yangshan and Waigaoqiao terminals had lost 54 and 48 hours respectively. The forwarder also reported waiting times above nine days at certain Waigaoqiao terminals and above seven days at Yangshan Terminal 12. Those figures are a dated operational snapshot, not a statement of current delays, but they demonstrate the backlog from which services are recovering. ([mykn.kuehne-nagel.com](https://mykn.kuehne-nagel.com/news/article/port-operational-updates-from-08-09-2026?utm_source=openai))

**Operational implications.** A further weather interruption before the existing backlog has cleared could produce vessel bunching, berth-window slippage, skipped calls, late export cut-offs and uneven empty-container availability. The risk is not confined to China port pairs: missed windows at hub ports can cascade through feeder connections, transhipment plans and subsequent long-haul rotations. Cargo interests should therefore treat published ETA and berth plans as provisional where shipments depend on East Asian gateways in the next two to three weeks.

For shipowners and operators, the immediate priority is to preserve safe-weather margins and document decisions on speed, anchorage, pilotage, cargo operations and deviations from the advertised rotation. Charterers should verify whether laycan, cancellation, performance and off-hire exposures are affected by port closure, congestion or weather-routing provisions in the applicable charterparty. Cargo owners and forwarders should validate receiving windows, reefer-plug availability, dangerous-goods acceptance and rail or trucking capacity before releasing time-critical cargo. P&I and cargo insurers may wish to ensure that contemporaneous notices, terminal instructions, weather records and container-condition evidence are retained in case delay, cargo-condition or demurrage disputes follow.

**Why this matters.** The key issue is not simply a forecast storm; it is the reduced recovery buffer in a network entering China’s pre-holiday export period. Contingency routing and realistic delivery commitments are likely to be more valuable than assuming a rapid return to published schedules.