News

Following the government’s announcement that, apart from the emergency services, everyone in Sierra Leone will be obliged to stay in their homes for three days from 19 to 21 September 2014, Budd’s local office has confirmed that the ports will be closed on these dates.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared that the hemorrhagic virus which is said to have taken 13 lives in the Boende Region (Equateur Province) is Ebola.

Since our 30 July bulletin on Ebola in West Africa (Budd Bulletin 30/07/14), the continuing spread of the disease and World Health Organisation’s subsequent declaration of…

Following the World Health Organisation’s level 3 health alert, Marseille’s Harbour Master has sent a circular to the local ship agents, shipowners and freight forwarders advising that all vessels who have called in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Nigeria must email the following declaration of health to the Port of Marseille 48 hours before arriving:

The Port of Abidjan now allows vessels who have recently called in one of the countries affected by Ebola to berth.

Budd Ivory Coast has just received a circular issued by the Abidjan Port Authority on 12 August 2014 advising that as of 10 August 2014, all vessels arriving from a country affected by the Ebola virus were forbidden to enter the port of Abidjan.

In a message received this morning, the Area Manager of our Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia offices describes the situation which he and his colleagues are facing in their respective countries.

In view of the mounting concern over the Ebola virus, the International Chamber of Shipping, International Maritime Employers’ Council and the Internatinal Transport Worker’s Federation have issued formal advice which may be accessed via the link below to their press release below.

​After Friday’s earthquake at sea, it seems that Algeria was spared the much-feared strong after-shocks (see our 1 August bulletin).

According to an article which recently appeared in the New York Times, France may well have unwittingly become the principle source of funds for Al Qaeda while French nationals have become the preferred kidnap victims.