Japan Marine United (JMU) has closed its Ariake shipyard this week in a bid to stop the further spread of coronavirus around the western island of Kyushu.
As reported by TradeWinds last week, 23 JMU employees tested positive for Covid-19 infection following the emergence of a growing infection cluster in Kumamoto prefecture where the yard is located.
JMU executives have now taken the decision to close the yard throughout the rest of this week. Next week the yard is scheduled to close for the annual summer holiday and it will not reopen again until 17 August.
The shipyard has decided to conduct a PCR test of all staff who had any contact with the infected persons.
So far JMU said it had tested 388 staff members of which 59 have tested positive for coronavirus. JMU is awaiting the remaining test results.
Of the 59 positive tests 48 were full time JMU employees, five were contracted workers from Vietnam, five worked for the yard's suppliers and one worked for a JMU related company.
JMU has established a team to tackle the problem and is also working with the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan on establishing guidelines for yards to prevent the spread of the disease.
The company has also said it will offer full transparency on its website of the progress of its efforts to stop the spread of the disease within the company.
Before the outbreak, JMU had put strict measures in place including requiring workers to wear masks, wash their hands frequently and alternating work schedules so that appropriate social distancing can be maintained.
Ariake, which is one of JMU’s largest facilities, is currently building a series of VLCCs and VLOCs for Japanese owners.
JMU is also in discussions with Imabari Shipbuilding over establishing a joint venture shipbuilding company called Nihon Shipbuilding in the Autumn of this year.
