Classification societies and flag states are being flooded by shipowners' applications for extensions to safety certificate deadlines for vessels whose dry-docking in China has been interrupted.
Regulatory sources have expressed willingness to be flexible, but are struggling to keep up with a changing array of Chinese central and local government rules aimed at containing the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
TradeWinds has reported the closure or slowdown of most Chinese shiprepair yards due to quarantine measures that cut off their largely outsourced supply of transient labour.
