Some Twitter users have been posting an image showing dots of different colors alongside China's coastline, claiming they are ships waiting to dock and there is congestion because of China's COVID-19 control policies. However, that is a misinterpretation of the data and contradicts reality.

The image circulating online contains no information about the source, but the icons it uses and the layout is similar to maritime information service provider, MarineTraffic.

The app has different icons for passenger vessels, cargo vessels, tankers, high speed crafts, tugs, yachts, fishing boats, unspecified vessels and navigation aids. They are marked in blue, green, red, yellow, aquamarine, bright pink, orange, black, white and dusty rose, respectively.

Not all of them are related to maritime freight and the viral image did not differentiate them. The picture even showed local vessels transporting cement, fishing boats, yachts and tourist boats at bay "to demonstrate congestion around Chinese ports."

The image circulating recently looks very similar to a screenshot of the app showing China's coast on January 24, 2021, meaning large numbers of vessels of different kinds alongside China's coast is common rather than abnormal.

Indeed, 28 out of 50 ports in the world that have the highest handling capacity are in China. And 8 out of the top 10 are in China.

Was there congestion at Chinese ports? US website FreightWaves published an article noting the Shanghai outbreak did not cause notable congestion at the Shanghai port. The amount of cargo vessels waiting to dock increased mildly.

Vessel positioning shows the congestion rate [vessels waiting to dock over vessels docked or waiting to dock] was 16 percent at the end of February and 47 percent in mid-April. However, a similar rate was seen in July to September 2021 and such data was not a dramatic spike, given the pandemic.

According to Marine Traffic, which offers real-time positioning of vessels and other relevant data, cargo vessels at the Shanghai port spent an average 2.3 days anchored and 0.8 days at port between April 25 and May 1.


Shanghai's Wenhui Newspaper reported that, to ensure the operation of the port during the epidemic control, the city mobilized 20,000 workers into the port area under the closed-loop management policy. Ships can dock within an average of 36 hours.