In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, Port of Zeebrugge authorities announced that set several safety measures. Specifically, the port will continue its operations and shipping movements as long as the situation allows to.
At the moment, the ports ensures that the shifts are secured, as administrative personnel asked to be flexible in fulfilling their duties.
Although, all of the port’s events and scheduled visits have been postponed, while business trips abroad are also cancelled until further notice.
In line with the advice of World Health Organization, the Federal Department of Health, the EU and the Federal Department of Mobility, Port of Zeebrugge informed that:
- Physical meetings are discouraged and replaced by conference calls as much as possible.
- All departments of the port authority are encouraged to work from home if possible. The attendance on all departments is however guaranteed. If working from home is impossible, the port authority personnel is spread throughout the company’s offices both in time and space.
- The guidelines concerning hygiene within the port authority are communicated clearly.
- The maintenance personnel and cleaning staff are instructed to give extra attention to door handles, restrooms and 24 hour working stations.
- The work schedules of the continuous services are adjusted in order to reduce the risk of infections. The aforementioned guidelines concerning hygiene are obviously applied, with extra attention for the disinfection of work stations before and after a change in shifts.
Despite the safety measures against the COVID-19, the National Safety Council reported that cruises ships are allowed to enter and berth at the port, in case that passengers and crewmembers don’t leave the ship.
For the records, except Port of Zeebrugge, several ports still remain operational. Namely, Port of Oakland, Port of Long Beach and Port of Antwerp, and Port of Hamburg continue their cargo operations as normal.
Concluding, following the coronavirus outbreak, Chinese ports managed to slightly recover, as severe traffic congestion is easing while offloading operations are returning to their normal working conditions.