Ebola: Shipping lines may suspend services in W/African ports

There are fears that multinational shipping lines may suspend their services to ports in the West African countries that are currently being affected by the deadly Ebola virus. This is as some airlines have suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone, two of the worst-hit countries in the region.

British Airways, which operated four regular flights a week from London Heathrow to Freetown in Sierra Leone with a connection to Monrovia in Liberia, grounded its flights till August 31 due to the deteriorating public health situation in both countries.

As at last Friday, many of the multinational shipping lines calling at seaports in West Africa had suspended shore leave as well as crew change in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

“We have been following the situation for some time and sent out our first advisory to vessels calling at West African ports on 26 March,” a spokesperson for one of the multinational shipping firms confirmed.

“We have subsequently sent out several updates – to crews and land-based personnel – outlining additional health measures as per the World Health Organisation recommendations. We have also suspended shore leave as well as crew change in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as well as in Nigeria,” said the spokesperson.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC), and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) last week Monday issued joint advice to their members on Ebola. The groups issued strong recommendations to all vessels calling at countries affected by the recent outbreak. The advice includes ensuring that crew are aware of the risk of Ebola and the ways it can be transferred; adhering to the provisions of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) to safeguard against unauthorised personnel boarding the vessel, giving careful consideration before granting shore leave in affected countries, avoiding making crew transfers in affected countries and monitoring crew for symptoms after departing affected areas.

“Everyone is deeply concerned for those suffering from the Ebola epidemic and supportive of a coordinated world response to help them. We particularly applaud all those medical staff who are risking their lives to help,” the three organisations said.

“In the meantime, we want to make sure that those in the world’s shipping industry play our part in ensuring the safety of crews visiting the affected countries, and minimising the risk of the virus spreading,” they said.

Industry analysts believe the fragile West African economy will be further weakened if the major shipping lines suspend their services into the sub-region.

Meanwhile, Habib Abdullahi, managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), said as major gateways to the nation’s economy, Nigerian seaports were vulnerable to the deadly Ebola virus, noting, however, that the authority had taken steps to ensure that infected persons did not come into the country through the seaports.

Willy Egbudin, Customs area controller, Seme Border Command, said although the borders remained open on the orders of the Federal Government, the border communities were advised to maintain high standard of personal and environmental hygiene and always be at alert.