Sembcorp Marine told to stop all on-site work due to Covid-19 spread in foreign worker dorms

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Updated

Published

Apr 21, 2020, 02:31 PM

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Sembcorp Marine (SembMarine) has received a government order to stop all on-site work with effect from Tuesday (April 21), until May 4 or the end of the "circuit-breaker" period.

The stop-work order follows the steep rise in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases among foreign workers in dormitories.

In response to queries from The Business Times, a SembMarine spokesperson said on Tuesday: "The Ministry of Trade and Industry informed us yesterday that Sembcorp Marine and some other companies must now suspend all on-site activities with effect from April 21 (today), and that we are granted only a limited permit to carry works required for ensuring the safety of the ships and facilities in our yards."

In a letter dated April 20 and seen by BT, Alvin Gan, vice-president and head of SembMarine's ship repair unit, explained to customers: "Most of our workers are housed in dormitories and in the last few days, there had been more cases of infections in most dormitories located across Singapore, with some dormitories already identified by the MOH (Ministry of Health) as clusters of Covid-19 infections."

He added: "In view of the orders given by our government, we will have to implement a stop-work order of our production activities at our shipyards in Singapore within 24 hours from today (April 20), and as such, the majority of personnel related production activities will not be required on site.

"This production time-out is intended to 'break the circuit' of transmission of the coronavirus and to reduce the risk of infections spreading amongst the personnel working on the ships, thereby safeguarding the health and safety of the customers' personnel and our workforce. This stop-work order is in the best interest of your ship in this difficult time."

The letter had also stated that SembMarine's earlier approved exemption to continue onsite work has been rescinded, though BT understands that this information is dated. The MTI has since clarified that the exemption still stands, with a limit imposed on the number of people allowed to work at SembMarine's yards.

For instance, SembMarine will continue to maintain essential manning to ensure the safety of the work and the facilities, the company said.