COVID-19 – Bibby Marine: Protecting key workers and colleagues locally and internationally

• Floating barges housing key workers in Singapore

• Barges also offered to NHS Nightingale workers

• Precautionary actions by colleagues have prevented spread

 

The Bibby Marine teams have been busy protecting colleagues and clients on vessels and in offices, whilst also stepping up at short notice to support clients across the globe, in a truly international effort to fight COVID-19.

 

Protecting key workers across the globe

You may have read in the news that Bibby Marine were commissioned by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to deliver two floating accommodations barges to house healthy foreign workers to help combat the spread of COVID-19 by reducing travel and social contact in Singapore (see image of Renaissance below arriving in Singapore).

The team did a fantastic job pulling out all the stops and responding quickly over Easter to meet the client’s needs, getting the support needed in place in a matter of days.

Closer to home, two accommodations barges have been offered to NHS Nightingale Hospitals for use by key workers after long shifts, and to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in support of their Rough Sleeping team. In both cases offered at just running and overhead costs.

 

 

Protecting colleagues

Bibby Marine employs key workers in the form of seafarers and engineers who work on, and remotely support, the Service Operations Vessels (SOVs) and accommodation barges, and who also look after our client teams whilst on board.

These colleagues have been at the forefront of pandemic mitigation since the beginning and have remained vigilant in their safe working practices.

Taking expert advice from the start, including running regular webinars with trained medics to support front line staff, the team has taken rigorous steps to mitigate the potential exposure to the illness including:

• Social distancing
• Closing of social areas on board, such as recreational areas, gyms, saunas
• Reduction of non-essential personnel in restricted areas.
• Staggered sittings in mess rooms, with specially arranged seating to increase distance between persons or meals in cabins
• More rigorous cleaning schedules 

Bibby Marine were quick to react to the threat of the illness and were one of the first companies to procure antigen blood tests, and to create pre-arrival questionnaires to assess if a person is a risk to our crews.

Specially trained medics are employed onboard the SOVs to test the temperature of all personnel on board the vessels twice daily and to aid in the management of any suspected cases, for which specifically developed mitigation procedures have been developed.

Helen Samuels, Bibby Marine CEO was keen to pass on her thanks to colleagues:

“Bibby values have acted as a strong foundation for the challenges we have faced recently, and we must pay special thanks to all of our crews and those supporting remotely who have gone above and beyond and stood strong together during these turbulent times.

“The crews have been extra vigilant in their practices and it has not gone unnoticed. We wish you all good health and may we all come out of this together a better team and a stronger Bibby Family.

“The team’s response to the urgent request for help from the MPA over Easter was also hugely impressive, and we were able to respond within days to provide both floating accommodations as we collectively look to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

 

Read more about our companies response to COVID-19

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