The World Moves With Mariners

COVID-19: Impact on Global Shipping and China’s Economy What are the three key impacts of coronavirus COVID-19 on the global shipping?  With international transport at the forefront of trade and dependent on travel and human interaction, the shipping industry has been impacted materially both directly and indirectly from the outbreak of COVID-19. Operations of shipping companies and related industries, including terminals, ports, etc., have been affected due to personnel having been advised to refrain from traveling or reporting to work. Lower demand for commodities and raw material, and thus need for shipment, has pushed freight rates lower. Several shipping companies have started warning about reduced earnings visibility and weak future earnings results. Cruise, travel, and related industries, i.e. conferences, etc., have also suffered, and it’s noteworthy that North America’s largest container line conference, Trans-Pacific Maritime TPM2020, was cancelled this week, li

Crew restrictions drive a shift to Chinese seafarers after Chinese virus First the coronavirus epidemic trapped on-duty crews at work without relief. Then it kept off-duty crews cut off from their ships. Now — with China holding a near monopoly on crew changes at times during the pandemic — it has driven some managers and owners to reconsider the sourcing of their workforce. Asia's shipmanagers are adjusting their businesses to cope with a shifting set of constraints to keep their vessels running as crews are held back whether by law, by fear of disease, or by the lack of airline services. For Hong Kong-based Fleet Management, it means a fleet-wide challenge as it takes deliveries of newbuildings and purchased ships, and adjusts to the new realities of crew rotation and newbuilding supervision. At the start of the epidemic, Fleet Management had only about 60 of its 550 ships crewed by Chinese nationals. Today, Chinese crews are the only option. Crew lockdown "