Ebola outbreak re-routing port calls

There are reports that vessels calling at ports hit by Ebola are being turned away from disease free countries and this of course has a knock on effect to shippers in terms of schedule disruption.

Consequently, shippers are making alterations to their port calls and schedules, no doubt with knock on effects to affected terminals. For example, Maersk Line has made alterations to its network in West Africa to comply with vessel call restrictions.

It has delisted Conakry and Freetown from its WAF13 rotation, leaving only a call at Dakar in Senegal. The WAF13 schedule currently has a rotation of Algeciras/Tangier/Dakar/Algeciras.

Michael Christian Storgaard, Maersk Line, told Port Strategy that the Ebola crisis is meaning more direct calls in the shippers’ schedules.

“Bans and restrictions are fluid, so our network is subject to change. However, we would like to underline that cargo acceptance is not impacted and we only expect a few delays if any, thus impact to customers is minimal. We are of course monitoring the situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, also in the west of Africa, Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola death outside Lagos – a doctor in the oil hub of Port Harcourt.

On the back of this, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has tasked the Federal Government to police the country’s borders and ports so that the further spread of Ebola can be averted.

Despite this, Nigerian authorities still maintain that operations at Nigeria’s main Port of Lagos are unaffected, but that ships calling from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia may still not be allowed to enter other ports in the country.