The impact of coronavirus on shipping will be felt for quite some time, despite talk that the number of cases may be slowing down, the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum in New York heard Thursday.

To-date the coronavirus has infected 45,171 people and killed 1,115, mostly in China, and the malady is creating havoc throughout the industry.

"It's underestimated," said Kristin Holth, DNB's executive vice president and global head of ocean industries.

"It's really having an impact on GDP, not just in China but in all the world."

Ridgebury Tanker chief executive Bob Burke agreed.

"It's a lot easier to hear from someone who is at ground zero or close to ground zero express such concern because I hear on the radio that Wall Street shrugged it off yesterday," he said during a panel discussion at the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum.

"I always think, what does that mean?"

He said the illness' impact is affecting every area of shipping from supplies to crew procurement from China.

"It's a big concern for us," he said.

Dorian LPG chief executive John Lycouris said crew on one of his ships is quarantined while the vessel sits in a shipyard in China.

"This is our first concern, how we are going to keep everybody safe," he said.

He said China is taking the virus very seriously by taking many precautions while trying to allow shipowners to conduct business.

"There are issues that we are facing immediately right now that was totally unexpected after the Lunar Year," he said.

"We think this going to affect at least this quarter and the next quarter. It's going to affect everybody."