Ocean Oct 19, 2026 · 8 min read

Typhoon Champi nears Taiwan and Fujian

Champi’s track runs close to Taiwan. Plan for it now. Typhoon Champi hit 140 knots on Monday, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said, per HNGN. It forecasts the storm passing about 94 nautical miles from Taipei early Saturday and reaching Fujian by 24 October. Taiwan’s weather agency expects an earlier turn north but still warns of heavy rain, Focus Taiwan reported. Our view: treat Taiwan port and airport disruption as likely. Krathon in 2024 halted bunkering at most major Taiwanese ports for four days. Our call: at least one major Taiwan container port pauses operations for 24 hours or more between 23 and 25 October.

Champi may not hit Taiwan head-on. Forwarders should still plan for a lost weekend at Taiwan and Fujian ports. Typhoon Champi was carrying sustained winds of 140 knots, about 160 mph, at 06:00 UTC on Monday 19 October. That is the reading from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), as reported by HNGN. The JTWC expects the storm to peak at 150 knots on Tuesday. Its latest track, Warning No. 20, takes Champi past Ishigaki in Japan’s Yaeyama Islands on Thursday at about 115 knots. It then passes about 200 nautical miles from Kaohsiung on Friday and about 94 nautical miles from Taipei early on Saturday. It is forecast to weaken to about 75 knots near the Fujian coast by 24 October.
For anyone moving cargo through Taiwan, Fujian or northern Luzon this week, that track matters more than the headline wind speed.

What we think is happening

Our view is simple. Even if Champi turns north before Taiwan, as Taiwan’s weather agency now expects, it will pass close enough to disrupt the island’s ports and airports. Forwarders should plan as if Taiwan and the Fujian coast will see port and airport disruption from Thursday to Saturday, 22 to 24 October.
The forecasts have moved around all week. In a Taipei Times report published on 16 October, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen said: “The most likely scenario is that it turns northward after passing the Ryukyu Islands.” On 15 October, Hong Kong’s The Standard reported that AI weather models showed a sharp northward turn near eastern Taiwan, with some sending the storm on towards Japan around 25 and 26 October.
By Friday 16 October the CWA was more cautious. Focus Taiwan reported that forecast models disagreed on the later path. One had it turning north over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands. Others brought the storm closer to Taiwan. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng said the size of the turn depended on how the Pacific high-pressure system retreats eastward, and that its movement around Thursday needed close watching.
On Monday the two main forecasts split. The JTWC track runs the storm past Ishigaki, within about 94 nautical miles of Taipei, and on towards Fujian. HNGN noted this path “would put northern Taiwan on the storm’s stronger right side.” The CWA said on Monday evening that Champi “will turn northward earlier than previously forecast,” probably near Ishigaki, so Taiwan avoids a direct hit, Focus Taiwan reported. It still expects a sea warning possibly on Wednesday night or Thursday, and a land warning possibly on Thursday evening or Friday, both likely covering northern and eastern Taiwan. Forecaster Cheng warned of “heavy or extremely heavy rain” in the north and Yilan on Friday and Saturday.
So this is still a forecast, not a fact. PAGASA’s own track has moved modestly south since Saturday, HNGN reported, and forecasters said it “could still shift” again. Either way, northern and eastern Taiwan are in line for warnings, wind and heavy rain. That is what we would plan around.

What the storm has already done

Champi has already closed ports once. The US Coast Guard set Port Heavy Weather Condition ZULU at 07:00 Chamorro Standard Time on Saturday 17 October, FTN News reported. Condition ZULU means normal vessel movements and maritime operations stop unless the Coast Guard gives specific permission. It covered Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota. FTN said it also stopped cargo handling, fuel transfers and recreational marinas, until the Coast Guard lifts the order.
Flights were cut too. FTN listed cancelled United and Korean Air services to and from Guam on 17 October. Cancellations on 18 October involved United, Korean Air, Jin Air, Air Seoul, Air Busan and Philippine Airlines, among others.
The storm then passed about 10 miles south of Merizo, at Guam’s southern tip, at 4:26 a.m. local time on Sunday. It was a Category 4 super typhoon with sustained winds of 150 mph, HNGN reported. It did not make landfall. Shippers with cargo for Guam and the Northern Marianas should expect a backlog.
Next is the Philippines. PAGASA, the Philippine weather agency, put the centre about 1,600 km east of southeastern Luzon on Monday morning, moving west-northwest at about 25 km/h. It said the storm “may again reach super typhoon category,” HNGN reported. Champi is due to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility, the zone PAGASA monitors, on Tuesday morning. Locally, it will be called Rosal.
PAGASA forecaster Charmagne Varilla said on Monday: “We are still not ruling out landfall because the cone of probability includes portions of Extreme Northern Luzon.” Batanes and the Babuyan Islands could see wind signal 3 or 4, with closest approach on Thursday or Friday. Signal 4 means winds of 118 to 184 km/h. PAGASA expects a gale warning for Luzon’s northern and eastern seaboards by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, with very rough to very high seas from Wednesday.

What happened last time

The best guide to what Champi could do to Taiwan’s ports is Typhoon Krathon, two years ago.
Krathon hit land at Kaohsiung in early October 2024. Before it arrived, state refiner CPC halted operations at Kaohsiung port. CPC and Formosa Petrochemical then closed their ports in Kaohsiung and Mailiao as a precaution, Hydrocarbon Processing reported. It said cargo deliveries would be delayed “by a few days.”
Engine, which tracks marine fuel markets, reported that bunker deliveries at Taiwanese ports were halted from Monday 30 September, including at Hualien, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Keelung, Suao and Mailiao. Bunkering is ships refuelling in port. Most of those ports resumed on 4 October, after four days. Kaohsiung was the last to restart. A trader told Engine that congestion and delays were expected, “extending lead times at Taiwanese ports from the usual 2-3 days to 4-5 days.”
The damage went beyond fuel. Reuters, via Arab News, reported that workers at Kaohsiung port were clearing freight containers blown off their stacks. Kaohsiung and Pingtung declared a fourth straight day off work. 15 international and 88 domestic flights were cancelled. Kaohsiung airport’s two air bridges were damaged, though it stayed open.
Krathon struck Kaohsiung directly. Champi’s JTWC track keeps it about 200 nautical miles from Kaohsiung and closer to Taipei. So the north may take more of the hit this time. Keelung, Taipei port, Taichung and Taoyuan airport sit nearer the forecast path. Even without landfall, Krathon shows that four days of lost port time is a realistic planning number for a strong storm near Taiwan.

What this means for forwarders

Here is what we expect forwarders to face over the next ten days.
Earlier cut-offs. We expect carriers and terminals to pull cargo and document cut-offs forward ahead of the storm, from Wednesday or Thursday at Keelung, Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Push shippers to tender cargo early.
Skipped or delayed calls. Ships on intra-Asia loops and transpacific services calling Taiwan, Xiamen or Fuzhou may wait at sea, skip a call or swap the port order. That means rolled bookings and changed arrival dates. Re-check every vessel ETA (estimated time of arrival) touching the Taiwan Strait for 22 to 26 October.
Transshipment knock-ons. Boxes that relay through Kaohsiung or Fujian ports to other parts of Asia will miss their connecting vessels if the first leg runs late. Flag those shipments to consignees now rather than after the miss.
Air cargo. If flights are cancelled at Taoyuan or Kaohsiung around Friday and Saturday, freighter and belly space will bunch up behind the storm. Electronics and semiconductor shippers who rely on Taiwan airfreight should book space for early next week now, while it is still there.
The Philippines. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) said on 19 October that the forecast track stays north of the main nickel-producing regions. It added that “adverse weather could still disrupt port operations, vessel loading, and coastal shipping.” Its concern is delays to Philippine nickel ore exports to China. Forwarders and charterers with bulk or project cargo in northern Luzon should plan for loading stoppages from Wednesday.
Guam and the Northern Marianas. Cargo held during the weekend closure will move first once the port reopens. Expect a few days of slower service.
Not everyone is in the path. The Hong Kong Observatory said on 15 October that Hong Kong was “less likely to be hit directly,” The Standard reported. Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta ports may become fallback options for some urgent Taiwan and Fujian cargo if the storm stalls operations there.

Our prediction

This is our call, and we own it.
The CWA will issue a typhoon sea warning for Taiwan by Thursday 22 October. At least one major Taiwan container port, Keelung, Taipei or Taichung, will suspend vessel or terminal operations for 24 hours or more between 23 and 25 October. If the JTWC track holds, Fujian ports will follow with shorter pauses as Champi weakens near the coast.
We also expect Taiwan and Fujian port calls to run two to four days late into the first week of November. That is shorter than after Krathon’s direct hit, but still enough to roll bookings and break transshipment connections.
If Champi turns north as early as the CWA expects and stays well off Taiwan, we may be wrong on the ports. The air cargo bunching will still happen, because airlines cancel on the forecast, not the landfall. Plan for the bad case now. It is cheaper than recovering from it next week.

Sources