Six Ukrainian ports joined the initiative of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) called “Barometer on COVID-19 economic impact on ports”.
A weekly monitoring of ports that are IAPH members was launched in early April 2020 to improve interaction and communication on the updates concerning operation of the port industry amidst the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the world and the introduction of restrictive anti-epidemic measures in this regard.
First of all, it is about the information sharing on how the ports respond to a spread of COVID-19, what restrictions and work delays they face due to the counteraction to the pandemic. Odesa, Pivdennyi, Chornomorsk, Mykolaiv, Mariupol and Izmail branches of USPA are participating in the survey on behalf of Ukraine. The data collected in course of the survey is used for relevant weekly reports, which are published on the IAPH information portal. So far, about 100 ports in Europe, North and Southeast Asia and Australia have joined the survey.
According to the results of the first surveys published in the issues of the weekly barometer, the level of cargo traffic through the world’s seaports is holding steady, some declines are observed only in several areas. At the same time, passenger transportation by maritime transport and cruise shipping have significantly decreased, as well as the container handling, according to the recent data.
The questionnaire, drawn up by Professor Theo Notteboom (the Shanghai Maritime University, the Ghent University and the University of Antwerp) and Professor Thanos Pallis (the University of the Aegean and the University of Los Andes), includes the questions to be answered every week.