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

As you are aware the situation in China has been changing rapidly, even daily, in various ports and jurisdictions. In order to plan attendance of a DNV surveyor onboard your vessels please liaise with the local DNV office through your agents as they will have the latest information and support an informed decision on attendance, remote survey or rescheduling/postponements as necessary.

At DNV 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 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. The service is provided globally 24/7 through our dedicated teams in Singapore, Høvik, Hamburg, Piraeus and Houston. 

DNV will generally accept the coronavirus situation as an exceptional circumstance in terms of granting postponement of surveys, applying a force majeure clause. In alignment with IACS procedures 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:

• Are there 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.
• Does the vessel/Company have a COVID-19 contingency plan implemented onboard/special measures taken. If so kindly advise DNV of precautionary measures that we need to be aware of.
• Crew changes taking place just before or during the planned attendance onboard.

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.

When not a standard pre-caution, our surveyor may request use of masks in close proximities. For attendances requiring use of a launch boat, the boat shall be suitable to maintain social distancing of 1.5 – 2 meters onboard.

Please note that if COVID 19 testing is required prior attendance, this needs to be booked at DNV Veracity portal together with online survey/audit request. 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 point of contact (Office finder).

DNV 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 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 point of contact (see our Office finder) can support you in utilizing remote surveys.

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

>> International Chamber of Shipping | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

>> WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

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

>> ILO: Information note on maritime labour issues and coronavirus (COVID-19) - Revised version 3.0

>> IMO publications related to COVID-19

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

Tomas Barrett
Head of Corporate Communications
DNV - Maritime

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Phone: +49 1758853545