Typhoon Dolphin made landfall along the Zhejiang coast on Aug. 9-10 as a super typhoon, forcing full closures at Shanghai’s Yangshan port and triggering fresh vessel backlogs just weeks after the region cleared congestion from Typhoon Bavi.
Dolphin came ashore near Taizhou and Wenzhou with sustained winds of 151 kph before weakening to a tropical storm, according to Chinese state media. More than 1 million people were evacuated across the region, including over 900,000 from Wenzhou alone, while Shanghai canceled roughly 1,300-1,900 flights and saw flooding in its main commercial districts. Yangshan port stopped receiving empty containers at 6 a.m. on Aug. 8 and laden containers two hours later, with full closures continuing through Aug. 9. According to the Asia Supply Chain Weather Center, terminals began post-storm safety inspections and phased reopening on Aug. 10, with pre-closure waiting times at major terminals already running 4.4 to 8-plus days. Linerlytica estimates North Asia now accounts for roughly half of global vessel waiting capacity, with tight equipment availability continuing to support elevated freight rates and carrier GRI implementations.
The renewed disruption comes just after Shanghai set a single-day throughput record, handling more than 200,000 TEUs on Aug. 1 as it cleared the backlog from Typhoon Bavi’s mid-July closures.
IAM Member Impact: Members with China-origin shipments should anticipate another multi-week disruption cycle at Shanghai and Ningbo, with equipment shortages, port omissions, and schedule volatility likely into September. Given the back-to-back typhoon impacts on top of already-elevated North Asia congestion, members should confirm current carrier transit estimates directly rather than relying on pre-Dolphin schedules and build extra buffer into pickup and delivery windows for affected corridors.