OCEANAIR’s Partial Lockdown Contingency Plan
Focusing on Securing the Safety of our Employees and the Logistics Chain
March 26, 2020
Dear Valued Clients and Partners,
We are continuing to experience very challenging and unprecedented times. The United States has moved to a new stage in its fight against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with many cities and states across the country issuing stay-at-home orders. Most non-essential businesses have been ordered to close across the county and public transportation has reduced service to slow the spread of the virus. The State Department has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel Advisory, the borders to both Canada and Mexico have been closed to non-essential travel, and travel has been restricted to all European Union countries. The border closures do not apply to freight transportation, and all distribution routes are open.
Airlines have cancelled the majority of flights and rescinded previously agreed or existing contract rates. Existing allocations are being revoked, and bookings are only being accepted on a case-by-case basis, with no guarantee of a scheduled or timely departure. Many airlines are now offering their passenger planes for cargo-only service to alleviate the capacity crunch, including Delta, American Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada, British Airways, Qantas, Norwegian Air, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, and Hong Kong Airlines.
Ocean freight shipments are also facing delays, and, as a result, all quotes/bookings are subject to space and availability. Asia-Europe and transpacific ocean carriers are announcing another wave of blank sailings as the Coronavirus lockdowns shift from China to Europe and the U.S., dramatically curtailing consumer demand. Maersk, MSC, and Hapag-Lloyd have suggested more blank sailings could be on the way if there is further reduction in demand.
We understand the immense impact this pause will have on your supply chain.
In order to continue providing our clients with exceptional service without exceptions, we kindly request you advise OCEANAIR if your business is expecting a closure or changes in normal operating schedules. For our clients who expect closures or operational changes, we will work on your behalf to mitigate extra costs as much as we can.
Rest assured that OCEANAIR is considered an essential business, and we are open and fully functional. Our priority is to continue responding to our client’s requests and preserving our operational capacities while ensuring the health of our employees, clients, and partners. We are instituting social distancing and staff rotation protocols to minimize exposure between employees and have ensured remote access for the majority of OCEANAIR employees so they can work from home as needed.
Our Pharmaceuticals by OCEANAIR staff is considered essential and will continue normal operations at our facilities.
OCEANAIR is following the pandemic and its effects closely. We are providing daily global updates on our webpage located at https://oceanair.net/coronavirus-global-situation-update/. If the outbreak worsens, we will announce more details as needed. As always, we intend to be fully transparent with our clients.
We would like to thank you for your continued support and understanding. Please contact a member of our staff if you have any questions or concerns. As always, OCEANAIR is there when our clients need us.
Kind regards,
Ed Kaplan
CEO
