Kuwait has relaxed the ban on vessels from some of the countries worst hurt by the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, according to ship agents.
Earlier this week, Kuwait Port Authority said in some circulars that all foreign ships from China, Hong Kong, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea would not be allowed to enter Kuwaiti ports, except for tankers.
The circular also prohibited foreign ships from travelling from Kuwait ports to those countries.
Those were some of the most extreme containment measures seen in maritime trade. Most countries have so far only imposed restrictions on Chinese crew and vessels from China.
However, in an updated circular from the Kuwait Ministry of Communications seen by TradeWinds, the county now allows “ships carrying goods” from those regions bar Iraq to enter Kuwait ports.
If the vessels have previous calls at the countries within 14 days, crew members would not be allowed to disembark or make direct contact with shoreside personnel.
The measures are “to contribute economic stability and mitigate the effects of the spread of the Covid-19,” the circular said.
GAC Kuwait’s managing director Filip Bjorklund said: “There are...new circulars [coming], cancelling old ones, and then new ones again.”
“It is a volatile situation so things might change again with short notice.”
Having first been reported in China at end-2019, the novel coronavirus has spread to dozens of countries, sickened more than 82,500 people and killed some 2,800.
Data from Bloomberg showed Kuwait had 43 confirmed patients as of Thursday afternoon, making it the second most affected in Middle East and 10th in the world.
China, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore and South Korea were also among the top 10 in terms of the number of confirmed patients, while Thailand fared little better than Kuwait.
However, Iraq reportedly only had six confirmed patients.
Kuwait’s communications ministry has not responded to an email from TradeWinds seeking comment.
