Mwani Qatar has put in place a number of precautionary and preventive measures against Covid-19, directed and overseen by the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC). At the same time, the company has seen “record productivity rates” in the first quarter of 2020 and maintains “strong growth in operations”, MoTC has stressed in a post on Twitter.
An infographic lists the measures taken at ports around the country to protect against Covid-19. Mwani Qatar maintains ongoing communication with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), General Authority of Customs (GAC) and entities operating at the ports.
The other key measures are as follows:
Fewer workers at ports while securing business continuity.
Seafarers banned from docking at the quay; seafarer change also banned at the country’s ports.
Meetings held via conference calls and by working remotely.
Staff who have come from abroad are seen by healthcare authorities.
Awareness sessions and periodicals on health and safety measures.
Sanitising port facilities and distributing facemasks, sanitisers and gloves.
Besides the above-mentioned measures, some port-specific steps have also been taken. These are:
Hamad Port
Ship agents submitting medical certifications issued by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation).
Informing the MoPH about the last 10 ports a vessel has visited.
Keeping the vessel in a safe zone in case any seafarer shows (Covid-19) symptoms.
Continuous port security patrols, with no one allowed to board a vessel.
Round-the-clock monitoring of workers’ health status and sub-grouping them.
Shutting down some buildings, such as cafeterias, and banning visits.
Doha Port
n Work temporarily suspended until further notice except for the flour mills quay.
Ruwais Port
Discontinued receiving wooden ships.
Receiving only reefer and livestock ships.
Tightening building access measures.
The infographic also highlights the impressive performance of the ports in the first quarter of 2020.
For instance, the ports handled 801 vessels, 335,928 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers and 274,404 tonnes of general cargo during this period. They also handled 218,829 livestock heads, 20,476 roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) units and 81,822 tonnes of building materials in the same period.
Combating Covid-19
Fewer workers at ports while securing business continuity.
Seafarers banned from docking at quay; seafarer change also banned.
Sanitising port facilities and distributing protective gear.
Work suspended until further notice at Doha Port, except for flour mills quay.
Round-the-clock monitoring of workers’ health status at Hamad Port.
Informing MoPH about the last 10 ports visited by a vessel.
Ruwais Port receiving only reefer and livestock vessels.
Q1 2020 performance
801 vessels
335,928 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers
274,404 tonnes of general cargo
218,829 livestock heads
20,476 roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) units
81,822 tonnes of building materials
A file picture of Hamad Port.
