Maritime Pilots Adopt Stringent Health Protection Measures Against The Contagious Covid-19
As port related operations has been classified as an essential services by the government of Malaysia, the job of maritime pilots at all ports in the country remained as routine. The pilotage of cargo ships in and out of the harbour experience no major delay that may hampers the arrival of cargoes as well as the outward shipment of cargoes by ships, despite the Movement Control Ordinance (MCO) announced by the government earlier to curb the spread of Covid-19 virus.
According to Capt. Martin Lim, who is the President and Chairman of Maritime Pilots Malaysia (MPM), every maritime pilot in the country is required to adopt stringent health protection measures. This is crucial because maritime pilot is considered the front-liner in the shipping industry at ports, who is also the first person to board cargoes ships to pilot them into and out of Malaysian harbours; even before Health Clearance is being issued by the Health Authority.
Maritime pilots are highly susceptible to the contamination and infection by the Covid-19 virus. Many of these ships came from countries like China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran, United States of America and others that experienced severe virus outbreak. Ships arriving from these countries will be quarantined by the Health Authority at the wharf and no ship crew members are allowed to set foot ashore.
MPM is working closely with Ministry of Health and other governmental agencies, including terminal operators in the country to ensure every maritime pilot is protected against the infection by the virus.
Capt. Martin Lim further reiterated that it is equally crucial for the Government and its authorities to implement stringent and proactive measures to prevent any possible infection of Covid-19 at sea ports and terminal. As much as how ships which sailed from contagious countries are quarantined worldwide and experienced delay, ports in Malaysia must never risked, be discriminated against by ship-owners and charterers in mitigating the contagious virus. It is that important to take every measure and precaution we can to fight-off the virus, so as to protect the shipping and maritime industry in Malaysia.
Source: Maritime Pilots Malaysia