(Aug 7): Major ports near Shanghai, including China’s largest refuelling hub for ships, have suspended operations ahead of a typhoon that’s likely to cross the country’s east coast around late Sunday.

Activities have been halted at Zhoushan, the refuelling port, along with Ningbo and Changjiangkou, according to maritime alerts seen by people in the shipping sector. Vessels can still leave the ports, according to the notices. Ships will usually anchor offshore away from infrastructure prior to a cyclone.

Typhoon Dolphin is currently near Japan’s Okinawa Island and tracking towards the city of Wenzhou in China’s Zhejiang province. The Chinese weather agency forecasts the cyclone will cross the coast packing top sustained winds of up to 151km (94 miles) per hour, equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

The Jiangsu Maritime Safety Administration, a province-level entity of China’s main agency that oversees vessel traffic safety, issued a notice earlier this week that ships will not be allowed to enter the Yangtze River from Aug 3, according to notices seen by Bloomberg News. Zhoushan has been closed since then. Port closures are often not announced by authorities, as it’s deemed routine to halt operations during typhoons.

The government agency that oversees traffic around oil-import hubs such as Rizhao, Yantai and Dalian, which lie north of Shanghai, also urged vessels to avoid sailing southward. China’s Ministry of Transport, which oversees maritime services, didn’t immediately reply to a faxed query seeking comment.

Coastal areas around Shanghai and Hangzhou are expected to see heavy rainfall from the weekend, particularly on Sunday. Parts of Zhejiang may see up to 550 millimetres (21.7 inches) over a 24-hour period, according to forecasts from the China Meteorological Administration. Rain will then move inland early next week to provinces including to Jiangxi and Anhui.

In Zhejiang, which borders Jiangsu, maritime authorities have activated typhoon emergency responses. All 162 passenger ferry routes in the province have been suspended, while 474 construction vessels moved to safe shelter, according to CCTV.

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