GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Operations continue at the Port of Green Bay – as shipping remains an essential service that supports a number of other industries across Northeast Wisconsin.
“We typically bring in raw materials for manufacturing, agriculture, and construction – as well as our diesel and gasoline,” says Port Director Dean Haen, “The port is essential. It’s somewhat business as usual with some COVID-19 operational changes to protect our shore workers as well as workers on board the vessels.”
The Port of Green Bay is seeing business as usual – with some added COVID-19 safety measures in place. That includes screening, reporting, extra hand washing and sanitizing, keeping social distances, and then using the proper personal protective equipment. Shutting down the port could send economic shockwaves through the area.
“We have a $147 million per year economic impact on the region. That’s just the value of the port, not when you factor in the value of the manufacturing facilities, construction, or agriculture. It would be significantly devastating,” Haen tells WTAQ News, “Considering the situation we’re in, we’re very fortunate in the processes we have in place that we shouldn’t see any kind of outbreak at any of our operating facilities.”
One major benefit of how the port is able to operate – is the inherent social distancing between workers. Especially the separation between those on-board the ships and those on-shore.
“Ships are typically self-unloaders, whether it’s wet or dry bulk. Those involve few people – you have a conveyor system or a hose unloading the product,” Haen says, “On land-side, you have them moving it and loading trucks – so there’s really minimal interaction or at least the ability to keep people at a distance.”
For those on ships, distancing can be difficult in tight quarters. But crews are doing their best to not gather as a large group.
“Each ship has a crew of 27 people, they’re working in very close proximity for 30 day stretches so it’s a little more critical there that they’re operating differently,” Haen says, They’re basically breaking their people into three groups and keeping them separated so that if they should have an outbreak, they can minimize the impact to the whole crew.”
If there were to be an outbreak on a ship – the separation is aimed to isolate the potential spread until they return, and are able to get treatment for the infected individuals and load up with new crew members.
