Ebola advice needed for pilots

He says that the situation “is evolving”, adding that there are now bulletins from the National Maritime Information Centre listing those ships that have in the last 21 days called into West African states, “but what do we do now?” he asks. “We need advice, not general guidelines issued for the whole shipping industry, but advice for us, the pilots.”

It is an issue, he says, as while the potential for the virus to be spread by air travel has grabbed the headlines, in fact there is a significant risk posed by international shipping. Further, the UK has just started screening certain ships that have sailed from Ebola hot spots; this weekend will see the crew of Gypsum Centennial, a ship that has sailed from Sierra Leone to Falmouth, being subjected to rigorous testing for signs of the deadly virus.

However, he adds that the industry is “generally making good progress aimed at making practical information available and removing a lot of the ‘tabloid’ aspects and misinformation about the disease”. But he thinks that ‘M-Notice’ style updates specifically aimed at pilots and those who come into direct contact with incoming ships “will help those on the sharp end as it will mean information doesn’t get lost in pages and pages of generic guidance”.

The particular risk faced by pilots is rising on the agenda: Gordon Marsden, Shadow Minister for Transport, tackled it last Thursday in the House of Commons, the DfT’s John Hayes answered that “Work on additional guidance… [will be] made available as soon as possible.”

By Stevie Knight