17 April 2020
Nearly 5,000 people signed a petition started by the wife of a seafarer to demand a zero-contact policy in ports around the world. In her introduction to the petition, Mukta Kumar voiced the concern of many seafarers that COVID-19 could be brought onboard ships from people ashore, such as pilots, agents, stevedores or government officials. She proposes that shipping operations can only take place in ports that adopt such a zero-contact policy. The petition comes along various reports about increasing nervousness regarding contamination risks on both sides of the ship-shore interface, including port workers refusing to handle ships suspected having contaminated crew onboard. To raise awareness among seafarers, the digital crew competence management consultant Safebridge produced a series of free online training videos aimed at educating seafarers on the means of preventing the spread of the virus and to do away with myths and false rumours about COVID-19. On the other side of the interface, dockers at the port of Antwerp started testing a smart bracelet to prevent corona infections on the work floor. The Port of Antwerp partnered with the tech company Rombit to be the first to use this innovative bracelet which is in first place aimed at social distancing. Whenever employees come too close to each other a warning signal goes off. The bracelet also permits contact tracing: if someone happens to be infected then a health officer or trusted confidant can check whether the person has been in contact with other colleagues, in order to prevent further infection.