Newsflash - Fracht Australia Response to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
17/3/2020
The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been the dominating news topic of 2020 so far.
Australian health officials maintain that, at this point, the risk of contracting COVID-19 remains relatively low in all parts of Australia. However, given the rate of transmission of COVID-19, the impact on Australian businesses is changing daily. It is therefore important for everyone to be prepared to respond as COVID-19 continues to develop both in Australia and globally.
Be alert, not alarmed!
While there currently is no need for broad isolation of unaffected staff members, COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving situation impacting us all as we seek to protect the health, wellbeing and safety of our people, our clients and the broader community while managing the broader business implications.
As a precautionary measure, and in order to reduce staff numbers in our offices temporarily, Fracht Australia has implemented for our team members to partially work remotely, where possible.
We want to assure you that while working remotely we are always committed to maintaining our high-quality client service levels. Your Fracht contacts remain accessible via email and phone and are committed to helping you with your logistics requirements.
At the same time, Fracht Australia’s senior management is monitoring the Department of Health website consistently for up to date information about travel restrictions and situations in which isolation is recommended and will adjust required procedures as required.
Fracht policies and procedures are aligned with the recommendations from the Department of Health, which can be found here: (https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov).
Specific requirements are in place for people who have returned from a country or region that is at high or moderate risk for COVID-19 or think may they have been in close contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Next steps
- Implementation of remote working arrangements, while ensuring we have the capability to provide our clients with a ‘business as usual’ service and keep any disruption to a minimum.
- Personal client meetings to be limited and alternatives (skype / teams) to be suggested and implemented.
- All supplier meetings at our premises are to be either postponed or held digitally.
Overview on Industry Outlook
Sea freight
Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) have been in touch with a number of the major lines / consortia and their views are summarised below:
- They have been seeing improvement in bookings / vessel loads and would expect to see a return to full sailing schedules by end of March / early April.
- They expect full sailing schedules ex China by week 12/13 and loads at 90-95% capacity.
- Due to lack of container movements during the blank sailing period we could see a shortage of equipment at origin ports around the world. This may impact exports especially in the fresh produce field.
The above is estimations as advised by the shipping lines, we would encourage any clients to check details on a shipment-by-shipment basis to ensure they have the most current information (as this situation is changing daily).
Airfreight
The dramatic travel restrictions and collapse of passenger demand have severely limited cargo capacity. IATA calls on governments to take urgent measures to ensure that air cargo will be available to support the global fight against COVID-19.
“Over 185,000 passenger flights have been cancelled since the end of January in response to government travel restrictions. With this, vital cargo capacity has disappeared when it is most urgently needed in the fight against COVID-19. The world’s fleet of freighter aircraft has been mobilized to make up this capacity shortfall. Governments must take urgent measures to ensure that vital supply lines remain open, efficient and effective,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
Our Fracht offices in Europe, Asia and the US are working to find a suitable solution to decrease disruption to the supply chain for airfreight cargo.
We sincerely hope that you, your families and colleagues remain safe during this challenging period.
If you would like further information, please contact one of our friendly Fracht Team members at fracht@frachtsyd.com.au or your Customer Service Representative.
Thank you very much.
Your Fracht Australia team
