One of shipping's largest social gatherings, the Eisbeinessen, has been struck down by the coronavirus.
The 72nd meeting of the German shipping event which was scheduled to take place in Hamburg on 6 November has been cancelled.
The Eisbeinessen — held every year since 1948 on the first Friday in November — regularly attracts about 3,600 shipbrokers, agents, bankers and lawyers to the traditional pork knuckle feast in Hamburg.
But planning and holding such an event, "which depends on the exchange of people from different countries, is almost impossible", the Hamburg and Bremen Shipbrokers’ Association (VHBS) said.
"We have looked at the developments for a long time and hoped for an end to the restrictions," the shipbrokers' body said.
But the benefits of holding the event were outweighed by uncertainties relating to social distancing, restricted flight plans and rules that would have blocked serving alcohol.
The VHBS plan was to hold the 73rd Eisbeinessen on 5 November next year.
Other events
The Eisbeinessen is the latest of a series of maritime events to have been rescheduled in order to comply with social distancing measures.
Other Hamburg shipping events including SMM, one of the world's largest ship technology exhibitions and conferences, has also been postponed until February 2021 due to the pandemic.
Posidonia, the high-profile, week-long shipping event in Greece, has been moved from the first week of June until late October. Connecticut Maritime Association's annual event in the US has been rescheduled twice, and now hopes to go ahead in October.
A gathering of top maritime executives at the Global Maritime Forum (GMS) has been postponed until 2021.
Most, if not all, shipping conferences have been cancelled or rescheduled online. Marine Money's annual week of ship finance conferences in New York in June has been cancelled for this year.
