STUDY REVEALS IMPACT OF EBOLA ON TRADE

A study into the impact of the West African Ebola outbreak on container shipping has shown that it has not been that significant to date. Whilst carriers have reshuffled their service networks, and ports and terminal operators have tightened up procedures to prevent spreading of the disease, there has been little or no impact on operations due to the disease according to SeaIntel Maritime Analysis. The organisation that conducted the research found that congestion and poor infrastructure connections from the ports to their hinterlands remained the biggest challenges to date on the continent. With the first case of Ebola reported in March this year, the impact of the disease has been closely monitored by the industry as the death toll has steadily risen to above 4000.