By Matthew Bristow and Michael McDonald (Bloomberg) — The gatekeepers of global trade routes are trying to keep goods moving through a wounded world economy while trying to minimize health threats to their own workers.
A prime example is the Panama Canal Authority, which has sent thousands of employees home and rolled out contingency plans to keep trade flowing amid the region’s worst outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The canal said it is now operating with a staff of 3,600, versus the normal 9,000. Workers not dealing directly with ship transits were given two weeks of vacation.
As a country, Panama has 1,075 confirmed cases of the illness, the most in Central America, and about the same number as Mexico, which has a population about 30 times as large. At least seven canal employees have tested positive for the disease.
Before the pandemic shut down large parts of the European and North American economies in March, the number of ships transiting the waterway rose 6% in February from a year earlier. The canal is looking out for signs of a slowdown at American ports which might indicate reduced traffic on the most important route — from the U.S. East Coast to Asia.
At the same time, the rebuilding of inventories in Asia as Chinese industry recovers is potentially a positive sign for the canal.
“We still haven’t received the full market impact,” the authority said, in reply to written questions. “That will depend on how quickly our clients’ economies recover.”
From tugboat captain Ivan de la Guardia’s vantage point, traffic fell in March, though work for some has increased due to longer shifts and some colleagues being in quarantine. Shipping has also been affected by the introduction of draft restrictions due to low water levels.
The canal authority is in talks with unions to increase shift lengths and reduce rotation to reduce contact and prevent contagion.
SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) – Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power ships will rise this year on attractive prices, while more dual-fuel vessels join the global fleet, industry executives said....
ROME (Reuters) – An Italian judge on Friday cleared three migrant sea rescue charities that had been accused of abetting irregular immigration in complicity with human traffickers, throwing out a case opened...
(Bloomberg) — The closure of one of the East Coast’s busiest ports after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has so far not led to broad price increases,...
April 19, 2024
Total Views: 2191
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.