COVID-19 outbreaks among crew on commercial ships at the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2020 to 2021

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, international shipping activity was disrupted as movement of people and goods was restricted. The Port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, remained operational throughout. Aim: We describe the burden of COVID-19 among crew on sea-going vessels at the port and recommend improvements in future infectious disease event notification and response at commercial ports. Methods: Suspected COVID-19 cases on sea-going vessels were notified to port authorities and public health (PH) authorities pre-arrival via the Maritime Declaration of Health. We linked data from port and PH information systems between 1 January 2020 and 31 July 2021, derived a notification rate (NR) of COVID-19 events per arrival, and an attack rate (AR) per vessel (confirmed cases). We compared AR by vessel type (workship/tanker/cargo/passenger), during wildtype-, alpha- and delta-dominant calendar periods. Results: Eighty-four COVID-19 events were notified on ships, involving 622 cases. The NR among 45,030 new arrivals was 173 per 100,000 impacting 1% of vessels. Events per week peaked in April 2021 and again in July 2021, when the AR was also highest. Half of all cases were notified on workships, events occurring earlier and more frequently than on other vessels. Conclusion: Notification of COVID-19 events on ships occurred infrequently, although case under-ascertainment was likely. Pre-agreed protocols for data-sharing between stakeholders locally and across Europe would facilitate more efficient pandemic response. Public health access to specimens for sequencing and environmental sampling would give greater insight into viral spread on ships.