February 27, 2020
The deadly Coronavirus epidemic originating from Wuhan, China is affecting the global industry. China, the world’s factory, is facing an unprecedented situation, a historic situation. The factories are deserted by the employees. Some are confined, while others are placed in quarantine. Production is suspended for the moment and transport possibilities are becoming scarce.
Deserted Chinese factories, closed roads, canceled flights, postponed stopovers and by infecting individuals, the coronavirus also affects whole swathes of the world industry, causing disruptions of supply in production chains and shortages in anticipation once stocks are exhausted. International freight is one of the industries highly affected by the sudden appearance of the Coronavirus.
China has conquered the global economy for the past 20 years, making it difficult to find other suppliers at short notice. This situation completely disrupts the international transport chain, with an increasing impact on air and sea freight, as underlined by the international association of air transport agents, FIATA.
Moreover, potential trade restrictions on goods from China are put in place prevent the spread of the coronavirus. These risks including closure of ports and quarantine processes should also be taken into account.
As far as online retail is concerned, since it takes more or less 24 hours for the packages to reach their destination, during that time the risk of virus transmission could effectively be reduced as doctors claim that this virus is not able to survive on non-living things for long. Nonetheless, purchasers all over the world are highly concerned about receiving any type of packages from Wuhan and other parts of China. There are also potential risks of import restrictions as international trade would go down in volumes, thus leading to lesser containerized cargo being shipped. This could among others affect trucking companies, shippers and freight forwarders.
As a part of general efforts to help China and contain the possible spreading of the virus, our MWG offices in The Netherlands and Italy have been busy with sending masks, overalls – protective clothing to China, as follows:
8 February → 35 pallets, 4688kg,
CBM 45.54 with 79264 masks to Shanghai
16 February → 58 cartons, 386kg,
CBM 5.33 with 15500 masks to Beijing
23 February → 285 cartons, 6668kg,
CBM 79.06 with 12790 pieces/overalls (protective clothing) to Guangzhou
26 February → 16 pallets, 2827kg,
CBM 29.46 with 10515 pieces/overalls (protective clothing) to Shanghai
The first ever ‘cargo only’ flight was recorded in November 1910 in the USA, using a Wright Model B aeroplane that flew 65 miles carrying a package of silk. The business owner used the pioneering transport more as a PR stunt to celebrate the opening of his store, with the bundle of silk cut into individual pieces and glued onto souvenir postcards.
Maurice Ward Group proudly marked another successful year at MRO Europe 2025 held at ExCel London with new partnerships and key industry insights. One more time it became clear that Maurice Ward Group is on the right way, because aerospace needs trusted partners that can handle everything.
Maurice Ward & Co. B.V. is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Klijn as the new Branch Manager.
Maurice Ward Group is pleased to announce our participation at MRO Europe 2025, the ultimate event for the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector, taking place at ExCeL London.
