For over 100 years, our Group of companies has been at the heart of the shipping industry. Today we are proud to provide support to over 600 shipping companies and 8,000 vessels worldwide every day.

As you would expect, we are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and have put measures in place to ensure we continue to provide global 24/7 service and support to enable our customers’ fleets to keep moving day and night.

We understand that ENCs, charts and publications may not be front of mind when managing the complexities of port calls and crew welfare in the face of the COVID-19 challenge, but I want you to know that, along with the health and safety of our employees, maintaining continuity of navigational supplies for customers is our top priority.

Given the impact of COVID-19 on how we work and travel, we have been adapting our working practices over the past several weeks to the evolving nature of this epidemic to protect the best interests of our GNS colleagues and also our customers.

Below is an update on what we are doing to support you.

When you place an order

When you or your vessels order ENCs and digital publications from any of our offices across the globe, you can have confidence that our automated systems will continue to provide an instant response to vessel needs day and night – with permits dispatched and received on board within 10 minutes.

Despatch of physical goods

Our global scale and ongoing investment in technology infrastructure enables us to manage any reduced capacity that may necessarily result from an increase in home working, staff illness, quarantine and / or any associated deep cleaning. We have paper chart printing capability and hold paper publication stock in locations worldwide including Yokohama, Hong Kong, Singapore, Athens, Hamburg, UK and Los Angeles and have additional capability in Istanbul and St Petersburg. In such cases where it becomes necessary for an office to be closed, orders will be re-routed to another of our global locations for despatch.

Local deliveries remain unaffected.

If a vessel is unable to take receipt of a physical product due to port restrictions or other issues, our team are on hand to provide advice about the digital alternatives available to fulfil ongoing compliance requirements and support implementation onboard.

Our global purchasing team are in close contact with all suppliers and are monitoring the situation so that we are able to respond to issues as they may arise. Currently, there have not been any major changes to delivery schedules. Following a temporary closure, the IMO have also advised that their London office will be re-opening tomorrow.

When you require service or technical support

As previously communicated, we have now taken the precaution of suspending all direct customer visits, but I can reassure you that, aided by our Cloud-based infrastructure, our Service and Support teams are continuing to be on hand to support you 24/7.

Our customer service and support teams are office and home working on a rotational basis to ensure that a core team are on site in our offices worldwide at all times and we are including remote access to onboard PCs to resolve issues as required.

Thank you for choosing GNS, your continued trust in us as your navigation supplier of choice means a lot to us. If you have any concerns, please contact us at customerservices@gnsworldwide.com.