French ocean shipping liner CMA CGM announced that except for Wuhan in China, all group operations in Greater China will “continue to operate uninterrupted as per usual,” while stressing that “significant preventive and proactive measures” are being undertaken against the spread of the coronavirus.
In a statement dated January 31, CMA CGM said: “Except for Wuhan, all CMA CGM Group operations including Terminal, Warehousing, Depots, Offices and other facilities continue to operate uninterrupted as per usual. Load/Discharge moves at Wuhan port have been suspended until further notice. Our customer service teams are in close contact with all affected customers following up on shipment status and discussing alternative transport plans.”
It added that the group’s Greater China teams are closely monitoring the situation “to ensure the safety of our employees whilst working towards mitigating any possible impact to our customers’ operations.”
It also said that the Chinese government has issued a directive on January 27 extending the Lunar New Year to February 2 in Mainland China. All companies in Mainland China have been requested not to reopen their premises until Monday, February 3.
The local governments are permitted to adjust the Lunar New Year holidays based on the need to control the novel coronavirus outbreak in the locality. As per January 31, the following municipalities and provinces have announced the further extension of the holidays till February 9:
- Shanghai Municipality
- Chongqing Municipality
- Jiangsu Province
- Zhejiang Province
- Guangdong Province
- Yunnan Province
- Fujian Province
- Sichuan Province
- Jilin Province
- Anhui Province
- Shandong Province
- Jiangxi Province
- Heilongjiang Province
- Henan Province
The Lunar New Year holidays are extended to February 13, 2020 in the Hubei Province, including Wuhan.
In light of this, the shipping company said it will continue its day-to-day operations, giving priority to the health and safety of all its employees and partners.
“The CMA CGM Group has undertaken significant preventive and proactive measures prior, during and after Lunar New Year to ensure we best safeguard our employees’ health and safety and continue to manage our day-to-day operations with little or no impact to our customers’ supply chains.”
It said emergency management teams are monitoring the situation daily and continue to review specific procedures and guidelines across all CMA CGM’s offices in China.
“All CMA CGM Group’s offices have solid Business Contingency Plan (BCP) ready, in case the situation escalates,” it said, adding it will fully comply with any regulatory requirements and policies aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
