DNV GL – Maritime: response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

At DNV GL we are working to ensure your business continuity and deliver for you, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. Our offices remain fully operational around the world and our employees remain on the job, either in the office, on location, or at home, to help keep your vessels and business running.

Where possible, we will use the remote survey scheme through the globally available 24/7 DATE (Direct Access to Technical Experts) services. This unique DNV GL service has proven to be of significant value to our customers in these challenging times and allowed to ensure safety and regulatory compliance through the use of modern technology. Since introducing this service in June 2018, DNV GL completed more than 15,000 surveys remotely. The service is provided globally 24/7 through our dedicated teams in Singapore, Høvik, Hamburg, Piraeus and Houston. 

DNV GL will generally accept the coronavirus situation as an exceptional circumstance in terms of granting postponement of surveys, applying a force majeure clause. We have developed a process for granting 3-month postponements of renewal/intermediate/annual surveys and are applying this on a case by case basis.

However, where onboard attendance is possible, we encourage you to complete surveys that are due or have already been postponed.

We kindly ask you to book your surveys via My Services on Veracity or contact our 24/7 DATE customer service (Direct Access to Technical Experts) via My Services on Veracity.

Before confirming attendance, we kindly ask you to inform us of:

• Your vessel’s itinerary for the past 2 weeks
• Have any crew changes taken place during this time. If crew changes have taken place, kindly advise countries of origin/transit for these crew. In addition, what risk mitigating measures have been implemented to ensure the joining crew members are not infected, by e.g. quarantining prior to joining, tests carried out, etc.
• In the last two weeks, have there been visitors onboard that have subsequently been confirmed as being infected (e.g. through contact tracing processes).
• Does the vessel/Company have a COVID-19 contingency plan implemented onboard/special measures taken.

More importantly, please advise us if there are any crew members onboard with symptoms associated with the virus, e.g. fever, dry cough, tiredness, sore throat, shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing or other symptoms associated with COVID-19 as published by WHO or national authorities.

We kindly ask you to inform us 12 hours before our attendance if any crew member has developed symptoms described above. If we do not receive any update from your end, then kindly expect our attending surveyor to check on this with the master. Further clarification may be required prior to our attendance.

We confirm that our surveyor is continuously self-monitoring, following DNV GL/country regulatory self-reporting requirements and does not show any symptoms of the virus. Should your company have any other precautionary measures that we need to be aware of, please advise us of them at the time of the survey booking.

Any further questions should be directed to our 24/7 DATE customer service (Direct Access to Technical Experts) via My Services on Veracity or via your local DNV GL point of contact (Office finder).

DNV GL is making every effort to provide component and material certification (CMC) services during the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, travel and access restrictions are being applied dynamically to deal with the outbreak, and this may affect your ability to make use of our services.

Where possible, DNV GL offers to apply the CMC remote survey scheme. Further information may be found on our dedicated Internet page for CMC remote survey services and your local DNV GL point of contact (see our Office finder) can support you in utilizing remote surveys.

>> DNV GL services to limit operational disruption during COVID-19

emptyemptyemptyemptyemptyemptyempty>> International Chamber of Shipping | Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Guidance for Ship Operators for the Protection of the Health of Seafarers (PDF)

>> WHO: Promoting public health measures in response to COVID-19 on cargo ships and fishing vessels

>> WHO: Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports

>> WHO: Operational considerations for managing COVID-19 cases/outbreak onboard

>> ILO: Information note on maritime labour issues and coronavirus (COVID-19) - Revised version 2.0

>> IMO publications related to COVID-19

emptyemptyemptyemptyemptyemptyempty>> Interview with Norbert Kray, Regional Manager Greater China, DNV GL - Maritime, on maintaining business operations in times of crisis

Tomas Barrett
Head of Corporate Communications
DNV GL - Maritime

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Phone: +49 1758853545