Global marine insurer North P&I Club has developed a new COVID-19 tracking tool. North has made the tool available as a shared resource to the International Group of P&I Clubs.

The tool was first released by North in February. It details the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak and the response measures that have been introduced in a single digital dashboard, including country- and port-specific advice for shipowners, charterers, operators and others, North said.

The tool utilises information provided by IG club correspondents across the globe, as well as the International Maritime Organisation and the World Health Organisation. The tool also uses data from Wilhelmsen Ship Management and ship agency company GAC. The dashboard includes a continuously updated map of the outbreak’s spread from Johns Hopkins University.

“Delivering up-to-date information from well-respected international sources, combined with the insights from the P&I club members of the IG, this new tool will help the maritime community better understand and track the extent of COVID-19 worldwide,” said Paul Jennings, North chief executive. “This can help protect businesses and most importantly safeguard the lives of the seafarers whom we depend upon daily to keep our local communities supplied with essential goods.”

Jennings, who is also the chairman of International Group, said that North is contributing to inter-club cooperation at a critical time by freely sharing the tool.

“I would like to thank those P&I clubs and their teams that have led and supported this initiative, which is fully in tune with the IG’s objectives of sharing data and loss-prevention initiatives to improve safety at sea and within the maritime industry,” he said.

So far, COVID-19-related inquiries made to North have focused on how port precautions and border measures were hindering crew repatriations, as well as problems in delivering general medical care.