Page 93 - Mariners Cricket Club (Singapore) - Souvenir Magazine 2020

In China, crews at all ports were not allowed to disembark. In the United States, vessels
that carried passengers who had been to China in the last 14 days were not allowed to
enter the country. Even Turkey implemented preventive measures, enforcing inspections
for ships that had passed through Chinese ports.

But COVID-19 isn’t the only major disruptor. Geopolitical tensions, like Brexit and
worsening US-China relations, also cast doubt on the state of the industry. For instance,
the South China Sea is the center of territorial disputes involving multiple countries, such
as Brunei, China, Indonesia, and so on.

The rise of e-commerce is also another talking point. In 2019, more than 15% of retail
sales were transacted online. Increasing demand for shorter delivery times means that
e-commerce giants like Alibaba and Amazon are handling their own delivery processes,
thus posing a threat to traditional shipping companies like Maersk.

These trends come together against the backdrop of a global economic downturn, one
that is spurred on by the pandemic. The shipping industry is thus set for a shaky future
in 2020.

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How Singapore controlled Covid19

When COVID-19 first started garnering international attention in March 2020, Singapore
was praised for its swift measures.

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