Page 17 - Navigator 20
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AMIDST THE CURRENT CORONA CRISIS, THE DUTCH MARITIME PILOTS’ ORGANISATION CONTINUES TO SAFELY AND EFFI- CIENTLY GUIDE SHIPS IN AND OUT OF THE PORTS 24/7. PILO- TAGE IS A VITAL PROCESS FOR THE ECONOMY THAT CANNOT BE DISRUPTED. AN INTERNAL CRISIS TEAM FROM THE SUP- PORTING NEDERLANDS LOODSWEZEN BV (DUTCH PILOTAGE SERVICE BV) MONITORS BOTH EVERYONE’S HEALTH AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE SERVICE PROVISION IN THAT RESPECT. A PILOT MUST BE ABLE TO SAFELY BOARD, ALSO IF CORONA IS UNFORTUNATELY DETECTED ON A VISITING SHIP.
According to Willem Bentinck, director of Nederlands Loodswezen BV, corona aboard a visiting ship is just one of the many challenges that the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation is currently facing. “In those situations, the pilot boards the vessel wearing additional protective clothing to thus ensure that the ship is still able to safely enter the
port. That is actually quite taxing for the pilot. It is a risk to his own health and that of the people around him. Such a level of dedication to one’s profession is absolutely commendable. The same can be said for health care workers, police officers and firefighters, for example.”
During the course of the corona crisis, Bentinck has observed a clear shift in mindset about the boarding of vessels by pilots. “Initially, the pilot would often be seen as a risk factor. A seagoing vessel is more or less a bubble. And then a new person enters: the pilot. Ship crews were rather reluctant about this. When fresh crews started to come in from mid-June, the situation reversed though. The pilots were now the ones who became concerned about all those new crew members arriving from all over the world. On some occasions, this concern unfortunately proved to be justified.”
CORONA CRISIS TEAM
Together with Manager Human Resources Nancy van der Drift, Manager Maritime Services Ton Duivestein and the Operations Managers of the four pilotage regions in the Netherlands, Bentinck
is part of the corona crisis team that has been established within
the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation. Their main challenge is to monitor everyone’s health and, by extension, ensure the continuity
of the service provision. Van der Drift: “In the corona crisis team, we evaluate current developments, initially daily but now weekly, in order to determine the appropriate course of action for both the pilots and the staff. Following an earlier pandemic – the Mexican flu – we already had a business continuity plan. This was immediately updated by us following the corona outbreak.”
WORKING FROM HOME AND CONTINUING TO SAIL
From the outset, the guidelines of the Dutch government have constituted the unwavering starting point for the corona approach adopted by the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation. In combination with the common sense that is expected of everyone within the organisation, said guidelines are always strictly adhered to. Office staff work from home as much as possible. Duivestein: “The situation
‘Pilots must continue to be transported to and from sea-going
vessels’
is obviously different for our nautical staff. Pilots must continue to
be transported to and from sea-going vessels.” This presents new operational challenges. Especially aboard the tenders, it is factually impossible for crew members to keep 1.5 metres away from each other. “The pilots sailing aboard the tenders do maintain that distance of 1.5 metres though. Both from the crew and from each other. This limits the capacity on board. There may be fewer ships calling at the ports due to the corona crisis, but this has most definitely not resulted in fewer trips for us.”
24/7 PUZZLE
It makes the 24/7 continuation of the service provision to visiting ships a puzzle in its own right. After all, everyone’s health comes first. At the first sign of a cold, employees are immediately tested. A handful of cases a week are involved. “Fortunately, almost all of the tests come back negative,” says Duivestein. In the autumn and winter, the number of runny noses however rapidly increases. “While waiting for the test results, you have temporarily lost those employees for deployment in the operation.” Not to mention those unfortunate situations in which the test does come back positive. For Nederlands Loodswezen BV, this could mean that an entire crew must be placed in home quarantine as a precaution. A not inconceivable situation that obviously causes many headaches in advance for the crew affairs department and the various pilotage service coordinators.
FLEXIBLE ORGANISATION
Bentinck: “The corona crisis requires a great deal of flexibility from our organisation. These are difficult times for everyone, including our people who have to work from home.” Van der Drift adds: “In the post-corona era, digital consultation will certainly continue, but it can’t replace live interaction and direct dialogue though. Especially when starting up new projects, this constitutes a major limitation.”
The first priority now is to globally eradicate corona. Until then, the challenge is to ensure that the service provision of the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation to the shipping sector always continues. “That requires a lot of energy,” concludes Bentinck. “Up to this point, we have always successfully managed to normally provide all vessels with a pilot on time. All our efforts are geared to ensuring that this remains the case.”
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