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Shipping Incident bulletin 14th February 2020
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This week’s bulletin contains updates about: Ireland, Iceland, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Croatia, Georgia, Serbia, Zimbabwe, USA, Jamaica, Singapore, Austria, Greece, Denmark, Germany, Panama, Costa Rica, UAE, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, China.
Ireland
Start date: 11th February
End date:Â Ongoing
Due to severe weather conditions all ferries have been cancelled and delayed since 11 of January, and will adversely affect collections and deliveries of shipments to the Republic of Ireland.
As a result, delays of at least 24 hours is expected until normal service resumes.
We will continue to monitor the situation and will update as soon as we have further information.
Iceland
Start date: 14th February
Expected end date: 15th February
Due to a storm in Iceland on Friday the 14th of February, all outbound dispatches have been cancelled today and most flights to and from Iceland are cancelled or delayed until after 16:00.
All roads to and from Reykjavik are closed.
Domestic transport and distribution has also been cancelled in most areas including the Reykjavik area.
Canada – back to normal
Start date: 17th January
End date:Â 7th February
The designated operator of Canada, Canada Post, informs other Union member countries and their designated operators that the state of emergency in the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland, is over, and all postal services have been back to normal since Friday, 7 February 2020.
Israel
Start date: 13th February
Expected end date:Â 29th February
Israel Post has advised they are dealing with mail and parcel backlogs as a result of an unforeseen increase of volumes. They’re processing items as quickly as possible, and expect normal performance will resume by the end of the month.
In the meantime, delivery delays on all mail & parcels can be expected.
Mail suspension due to Corona virus
Below Postal operators would like to inform other Union member countries and their designated operators that, owing to the suspension until further notice of flights from partner airlines to China (People’s Rep.), they are currently unable to send letter-post, parcel-post or EMS items to China.
They are therefore declaring a situation of force majeure and ceasing, with immediate effect, to accept letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items destined for China, until sufficient transport capacity becomes available.
Hong Kong – since 28th January
Romania – since 31st January
South Africa – since 3rd February
Spain – since 4th February
Croatia, Georgia – since 6th February
Serbia, Zimbabwe – since 7th February
United States, Jamaica – since 10th February
Singapore, Austria – since 11th February
Greece, Denmark – since 12th February
Germany, Panama, Costa Rica, United Arab Emirates – since 13th February
Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago – since 14th February
China
Start date: 28th January
End date:Â Ongoing
The designated operator of China (People’s Rep.), China Post, asks us to reiterate and inform other Union member countries and their designated operators of the following issues with regard to preventing and minimizing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), as per the requirements of the Chinese government.
First of all, according to the World Health Organization, coronaviruses do not survive for long on objects. It is therefore safe to receive postal items from China, without risk of contracting the new coronavirus. Measures have nevertheless been implemented to ensure the safety of mail processing and postal staff, including disinfection of postal offices, processing centres and transportation vehicles, and monitoring of postal staff’s physical health. China Post kindly requests the assistance of other Union member countries and their designated operators in providing the above information to senders.
Measures taken for disinfection and delivery
All postal offices, processing centres and transportation vehicles will be disinfected regularly and postal staff’s physical health will be monitored. For all inbound mail (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items), China Post will contact the recipient by telephone in advance to inquire as to their delivery preferences. Delivery will be conducted via non-face-to-face methods, such as temporary storage at the postal outlet, availability for collection from the outlet, or delivery to a smart parcel locker. Therefore, delays should be expected in the processing and delivery of inbound mail, and it may not be possible to provide written proof of delivery.
Impact on customer inquiry
As delivery options for all inbound mail need to be agreed by the recipient in advance, China Post kindly requests the assistance of other Union member countries and their designated operators in explaining to senders the aforementioned delivery options, which may not allow for the provision of written proof of delivery under these special circumstances.
With regard to customer inquiry for inbound mail (registered/insured letter-post items, parcel-post and EMS items), the provision of written proof of delivery by China Post is not mandatory under such circumstances. Inquirers who submit inquiries to the system while this provision remains effective should be advised not to escalate their inquiries to subsequent workflow levels.
Impact on transit mail transportation
Owing to the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, a number of international airlines have suspended flights to mainland China, and some border ports in neighbouring countries are also temporarily closed. As a consequence, China Post will temporarily store affected transit mail (air and surface) and will transport it to the destination countries when these transport options are once again available. Delays should be expected in transport and delivery during this period.
To date, transit mail to the following countries has been affected: Dem. People’s Rep. of Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.