The global spread of the coronavirus continues to escalate. Today, we find ourselves in a situation that was impossible to imagine only weeks ago, with countries and infrastructure shutting down in an attempt to decelerate the spread of the virus. In these extraordinary times, we need to work together to put health and safety first. As a company with operations worldwide, we have the responsibility to be proactive and to do all we can to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases.

Since the outbreak, Odfjell has taken extensive measures to stop the virus from spreading. Onboard our ships, in our offices and at our terminals, this is our top priority while we keep our daily operation running as close to normal as possible. The measures we take follow guidelines from local and international authorities, with extra precautions as we operate in a global shipping industry.

Keeping our crew and vessels protected as we continue the planned port calls is critical. Our crew shows exemplary diligence in upholding safety onboard, following strict policies for cargo handling, hygiene and communication with shore. We have established contingency plans to handle closed ports, and at the time being we have postponed crew changes.

Most of our shore organization is now working from home, keeping up business as usual by using our digital platforms and tools. Our teams remain fully operational and can be contacted by e-mail or phone.

To date, we have no reported cases of the coronavirus in the Odfjell organization, neither onboard nor ashore.

The situation changes quickly and we monitor the development closely. A dedicated cross-department contingency team is assembled to secure that we do all we can to battle the virus, while taking care of our responsibilities towards our customers and people around the world.

Take care, stay safe!

Kristian Mørch, CEO