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MARINE | Surveying In association with EIMC
Rising to the challenge Tiina Ruhlandt, President & CEO of global supply chain experts EIMC, that specializes in risk management and claims services in the marine sector, decribes the challenges faced by marine surveyors brought by the pandemic and how they have been overcome The Covid-19 pandemic brought about many changes to our personal and work lives. The beginning of 2020 seems a lifetime ago. At the same time much of the 17 months since the first lock-downs seems a blur. We learned to appreciate the most ordinary of things. We also learned to recognize the value of work and workers who were previously often overlooked. Suddenly the supply chain was everyday mainstream news. More people learned about the complex interdependent networks through which goods end up on our store shelves.
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE WORKERS On March 27, 2020 the US Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Information Bulletin No. 11-20 which identified marine The Marine Insurer Americas Edition | June 2021
consultants and surveyors as essential critical infrastructure workers. Specifically, the US Coast Guard considered these workers to be “essential for maintaining the continuous flow of maritime commerce.” It is worth remembering that about 80% of global trade is carried by sea. So, what did being a marine surveyor in the US during the Covid-19 crisis look like? At EIMC we were already set up to work remotely from home. We were spared that business challenge. We were grateful to be considered essential and to be able to continue to operate. The marine surveyor’s primary work is field work – be it at a port, aboard a ship, an airport, a rail yard, a warehouse, a retail store, and even in private homes. It requires interaction with other people and so one immediate question to tackle was: How were we going to protect our team? As the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) guidelines evolved, so did our safety guidelines. In the beginning that meant our surveyors needed to wear gloves, practice good handwashing hygiene, and maintain appropriate physical distancing. We decided to ban air travel until more information about the risks was available. US-based surveyors, especially in the middle of the country, were used to long drives to attend jobs. Now some trips were even longer, frequently crossing state lines and involving hotel stays along the way.
