Mostly 'business as usual' in West Africa

Despite the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, for the most part it is business as usual, a Maersk spokesman told FTW. “There has been a slight impact as reflected in the company’s third quarter results – with no growth in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone compared to 8% for the rest of the West African region (WAF). “We have maintained shipping services to and from these countries and our local offices remain operative, but there has been no growth,” said the spokesman. “We believe it is essential not to isolate the affected countries and to keep trade and business working. This way aid supplies continue to be delivered.” The three countries represent only around 6% of Maersk’s total West African volumes. In Nigeria especially there has been no indication of any impact whatsoever. “We continue to monitor the situation very carefully and have introduced some changes to operations to ensure the safety of our employees,” said the spokesman. The line has split its West Africa services to introduce a separate weekly loop from Tangier, Morocco, that calls only in the three affected countries. It has also suspended shore leave and crew changes in the affected countries.