COVID Chat series 2020 : Port Re-opening and Maritime Industry (June 4, 2020)

COVID Chat series 2020

Amidst COVID, the Centre took part in ‘Chat’ series on the following topics exploring the impact of COVID in the industry. Dr. Dorothy Chan, Head of Centre for Logistics and Transport organized ‘Chat’ sessions during COVID in 2020 with Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) in the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) such that the industry could respond to the challenges by learning from each other.

Impact on Human Behavior and Society (March 26, 2020)

Coping strategies for the home bound (April 2, 2020)

Technologies enables social distancing (April 9, 2020)

Farm to store logistics impact (April 23, 2020)

PPE and Hygiene Best Practice (April 30, 2020)

Post COVID-19 Passenger Transport for a safe return (May 21, 2020)

Re-opening of airports and Preparation (May 28, 2020)

Port Re-opening and Maritime Industry (June 4, 2020)

The chat sessions were organized by Women in Logistics and Transport, a forum under the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Chat on COVID-19: Port Re-opening and Maritime Industry

Thursday, 4 June 2020

The final chat session on COVID-19 was conducted on 4 June and sharing was conducted by two prominent speakers: Dr. Ruanthi De Silva, Maritime Consultant and Former Global Director Supply Chain Management Bernhardt Schultz from Sri Lanka and Mr. Ephraim Asare, CMILT, General Manager & Consultant, IBISTEK/Takoradi Container Terminal, Ghana and Vice President Maritime, CILT Ghana to speak on the impact of COVID-19 on Port and Maritime Industry.

Importance of Maritime Transport

Maritime transport carries around 90% of the world trade and so it is vital for every government to facilitate the continual operation of shipping, ports and the transport of marine cargoes so that supply chains are not disrupted. It is obvious by now that the global impact of the pandemic is huge and has affected the world trade in an unprecedented manner.

Countries which had previous experience with SARS in 2003 are more ready to cope with COVID-19. However, SARS was confined to a few countries and the outbreak was short-lived. Nevertheless, SARS countries are aware of the importance of Early control on the outbreak for reasons that massive outbreak will overload the medical and health support system.

Defeating the virus must be the first priority but our speakers strongly advocated for international co-operation to find ways to secure a safe and friendly environment for the shipping industry to go on. While many countries are on lock down, ships continue to trade and seafarers provide a vital service to the shipping industry.

Seafarers and Crew Changeover

As a general response to controlling the virus, countries would impose strict measures on people coming into the territory and this has affected crew changes leaving crew with the prospect of spending weeks, if not months, without being able to leave the ship.

Life at sea could be stressful and long hours of work and with limited social time, the health of seafarers is a concern. Ship owners should take responsibility in facilitating crew change, bring crew on shore to a safe hotel for quarantine, arrange chartered flights to take seafarers back to their home town. It is unfair for some ports to refuse disembarkation for crew and if the world recognizes the importance of shipping in the global trade, all stakeholders must be prepared for changes. The unwillingness to protect maritime staff during this crisis could have a long-term impact as it would be difficult to attract new joiners in the future.

As a way forward, an international policy should be established to grant seafarers and marine personnel with exemptions from movement restrictions in order to facilitate their joining or leaving ships. They should be permitted to disembark and transit through to airports for repatriation or crew changes.

As for all employees, seafarers and crew on board should be given protective equipment to guard against infection based on WHO advice.

Technology

There is no doubt that the pandemic has become a key catalyst for digital and technological advancement in the shipping industry. However, this will call for investment in artificial intelligence software and overall end to end supply chain management. Data analytics will help to reduce the shock. As more data is available, there is a greater ability to manage inventories, to provide advance information on the timing of ship arrivals, to provide sufficient information and support to stranded ships at sea.

However, loading and discharge of cargo requires physical presence of staff to unlock containers on board and uploading to trucks. The already intricate relationship of different workers, different operators have been aggravated by the pandemic. Information on measures introduced in response to COVID-19 must be clearly communicated as quickly as possible to reduce the risks created by new procedures and at the same time ensuring compliance.

The Role of Institutions

The International Maritime Organization is an important organization which plays a key role in addressing and facilitating maritime trade. It is important that during COVID-19, shipping services should be maintained for delivering essential products such as food and medical supplies. Therefore to ensure the availability of shipping services, all sectors in the maritime trade must work together.

The same speaks for Port Authorities and government agencies regulating the trade. Flexibility and ability to make changes in a positive way is the responsibilities of professionals in the field.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport sharing information on COVID-19 in its regular bulletins and webinars and WiLAT assembling leaders in the industry on mind-provoking chats are all contributing to a better response plan. ‘Social distancing’ may not be an appropriate expression as we are closer together in a virtual environment whereas physically, we have to maintain a safe distance.

Concluding remarks

WiLAT Global Chairperson thanked the two speakers for sharing their insights and for enriching our knowledge on the difficulties faced by seafarers and the restrictions on crew changes and crew returning home.

Between 26 March and 4 June, WiLAT has conducted 8 sessions of COVID-19 talks covering different aspects of the supply chain, transport modes, technology, cybersecurity, personal hygiene and coping strategies for the home bound. Starting from a critical period in March, there are signs that some cities and easing on their restriction measures allowing more activities in our daily lives and bringing in steps to address the hard -hit world economy. The way to recovery may be long but we are committed to a safer world.

To conclude, WiLAT Global chairperson thank all participants, all speakers, all those who have help in the event and in particular Reshma the chair of all the sessions and Vicky for platform and logistics support.

Dorothy Chan

WiLAT Global Chairperson

Head of Centre for Logistics and Transport, HKU SPACE