Shipping industry in action: Intensive and extensive self-regulation to fight the coronavirus pandemic

THE SHIPPING Association of Jamaica (SAJ), the representative body of companies engaged in the shipping and logistics industry, is instituting an inspection regime to audit each member company to ensure their compliance with government guidelines.

Charles Johnston, president of the SAJ, describes the audit as ‘a means to ensure that the shipping industry can remain open and play its role in maintaining vital supply links.’

SELF-REGULATION – CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

The SAJ is deploying its occupational health officer, Nurse Deanmarie White, and her health team to visit members’ offices, review the systems in place in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 guidelines and recommend actions to ensure compliance.

The SAJ president stated that “the shipping industry’s efforts at self-regulation reflect a commitment to responsible corporate citizenship.” He noted that self-regulation is nothing new to the industry and cites the experience of the drug-smuggling crisis of the 1980s when “the SAJ audited its members to ensure that they followed the rules of the US Sea Carrier Initiative; this audit was very effective in protecting Jamaica’s trade with the USA.”

“We encourage our members to go beyond the existing government guidelines,” Johnston said, revealing that “already, some of our members are doing so by instituting additional measures such as compulsory temperature checks for all persons entering business premises”. He said that the idea is to spread best practices and test the systems established by SAJ members, who number some 79 companies involved in the shipping industry, at every stage of the supply chain.

A PROACTIVE APPROACH

The SAJ, its members and their personnel were quick to respond to the pandemic, adopting measures to ensure the health and safety of staff and customers as they continued to manage the provision of services immediately following the Government’s promulgated Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) Order 2020. All participants in Jamaica’s shipping industry have rallied to the call while the SAJ keeps members updated on the ensuing Enforcement Measures under the Order, sharing information and supporting supply chain connectivity in this unprecedented period in the history of modern shipping.

Among the adjustments being made throughout Jamaica’s shipping industry are:

• Providing hand sanitisers and making it compulsory for all customers to sanitise upon entry and before handing documents to processing clerks.

• Compulsory wearing of masks.

• Revising opening hours to reduce exposure and risk.

• Instituting social-distancing measures by limiting the number of customers in the processing areas.

• Encouraging customers to utilise electronic payment methods.

• Instituting a work-from-home policy for administrative staff who are engaged in non-essential tasks.

• Staggering the days of work for each employee so that social distancing can be achieved.

The proactive approach of the SAJ and its members reflect their commitment to be of service to Jamaica, while trying to do their part to minimise the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

SAJ, JMEA REPRESENTATION REGARDING DEMURRAGE

Addressing the current financial challenges being faced, Johnston noted that globally and locally, the shipping industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused a sharp decline in cargo shipping and the cessation of cruise shipping. Efforts to contain the spread of the virus have also resulted in delays in the clearance of cargo and the incurrence of demurrage. To address this matter, the SAJ and the JMEA have robustly been making representation on behalf of companies affected. Both organisations have joined forces, requesting from the various shipping lines an extension of the free time period before demurrage cost is incurred.

Accordingly, both the SAJ and JMEA are advising their members encountering such challenges to directly contact their shipping agents and outline the facts of their situation, as requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, by most lines, whereas Seaboard Marine has granted an extra four days across the board to clear cargo.

THE FUTURE – INDUSTRIAL PARK FOR THE SHIPPING COMMUNITY

Looking ahead, SAJ president Johnston says “the current situation shows the urgency of the need for the establishment of a structured, organised and clean industrial park for Newport West.”To develop this concept, the SAJ has carried out a planning exercise for the future of Newport West as an industrial park, and is seeking the support and intervention of the ministries of National Security, Health and Economic Growth & Job Creation, as well as the Port Authority of Jamaica. The SAJ feels that a gated industrial park can go a far way in helping to address security and health concerns of its members, their staff and all users of Port Bustamante. It should also assist in tackling a range of maintenance-related problems affecting drainage, solid waste and roadways in Newport West.