COVID-19: Associated British Ports update

25 Mar 2020 / United Kingdom

The Coronavirus pandemic is creating unprecedented disruption to our society. Throughout this crisis the health and wellbeing of our colleagues, customers and their families remains our highest priority. ABP is committed to minimising disruption to our customers’ supply chains and preserving continuity of operational service across our ports; where we encounter any disruption, we are working closely with you to manage the impact.

Many companies are concerned and facing difficulties, and we are no different in ABP. We are in this crisis together, and we want to let you know that ABP will do our utmost to support your business with the least amount of interruption during these challenging times.

We are working closely with the UK Government to facilitate COVID-19 management and recovery plans. A number of financial support facilities have been announced by the UK Government. Further information on how to access this support can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses.

We have previously outlined key actions in response to COVID-19 and summarise these again below:

  • Personnel providing critical roles (e.g. Pilots, Lock Controllers) have been isolated and teams split to ensure continuity of services
  • Social distancing measures for anyone at our Port locations are being enforced and all non-essential staff are working from home
  • Working with UK Government to facilitate COVID-19 management and recovery plans
  • Closely monitoring and distributing the latest public health guidance
  • Working closely with customers to support their continued operations
  • Business continuity plans are activated

We do this whilst continuing to liaise with all relevant health authorities to ensure our operations observe the most recent guidelines; protecting our colleagues and customers. We would ask customers to likewise respect the medical advice and adopt social distancing measures across the ports where possible.

As the UK’s leading port operator with a critical strategic role in supporting the nation’s supply chains, we will continue to provide updates on this dynamic situation in accordance with government advice..

(For information about operations in the United Kingdom, contact GAC UK at [email protected])

Source: Port operator Associated British Ports’ Coronavirus (COVID-19) update No.3 dated 24 March 2020

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.