The Kuwaiti authorities issued an official notice on February 22 which implies some restrictive measures in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
In particular, it is now forbidden to accept any vessels and any goods coming from Iran, where a serious outbreak of the coronavirus has recently been seen. In addition, according to some local media sources, Kuwait will also not be receiving foreign vessels from a number of Asian countries and Italy in order to avoid the spread of the virus. The restrictions are in force from the date of publication with no timeline disclosed.
Other Gulf Cooperation Council states have also been taking precautions. As reported earlier, Oman’s Salalah port has recently imposed a ban on accepting nationals from China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Iran. In addition, Khasab, another port in Oman, has suspended import and export of goods to and from Iran from February 26. Bahrain has suspended flights from Dubai and Sharjah, while some measures in the maritime segment may be implemented shortly, SteelOrbis understands.