▋ A：COSCO SHIPPING lines HQ and regional offices in China (except Wuhan) will resume work on February 10, 2020 (Monday). The resuming plan of Wuhan will be further announced.
▋ Q2：Are the contact windows of COSCO SHIPPING lines HQ and regional offices still available? Are B/L release or B/L switch service still normal?
▋ A：Yes. During the holiday, there are staffs both on duty and via telecommuting to support your business without interruption. If you need help, you are always welcomed to send inquires to us through our customer service public mailbox. For details, please refer to the announcement in COSCO SHIPPING lines Webite News on Jan 31.
COSCO SHIPPING pledges to offer customers with favorable equipment policies to tackle the current difficulties.
▋ Q3: Is there any special policy for container use during the holiday or prior to resuming work?
▋ A：In order to facilitate the prevention and control of novel coronaviruses to better accommodate our customers’ needs in cargo arrangement during this period, we hereby announce specific policy on container free use in mainland China: All additional DND amount incurred during Jan 24, 2020 to Feb 9, 2020 will be exceptionally waived. The additional and your container free time can be added cumulatively; this is to say, the total container free time is your container free time plus the additional one.
Note: the additional container free time in Hubei area can be further extended to the time of resuming work. Your application will be handled in time afterwards.
▋ Q4：Can the special policy of container free use apply to reefer containers? If terminal storage is included?
▋ A：This specific policy is applicable to all type of containers. Port storage is not included, please consult corresponding port terminal for the storage issue.
▋ Q5：Can we apply for extension of container free time or cost reduction in ports outside China?
▋ A：The policy of container free use in ports outside China is confirmed case by case according to the unforeseen circumstances. The confirmation is based on the fact that the days to be extended or the cost to be reduced is related to the epidemic. That is to say, the application of extending days or reducing cost could be accepted due to slow circulation of documents or failure of cargo pickup in time caused by the epidemic situation. If the cargo can be picked up in time, but not picked owing to your own reasons, the container free time or cost cannot be extended or exempted.
▋ Q6：During this special time, is there any policy regarding fee waiver?
▋ A：Instructions of relevant fee waiver are as following:
Time Period
It is based on the official holiday arrangement by local government. According to the latest notice，the applicable time period are from 2020.1.23 to 2020.2.13 for Wubei Region, and from 2020.1.23 to 2020.2.9 for other China region , subject to further official notice.
Charge Items
During the special time period, below listed LOCAL CHARGE in China mainland region can be waived.
1)B/L Release Elsewhere Fee
2)Amendment Fee in case of changing Original Bill to Seaway Bill
3)Amendment Fee in case of changing Payment location
4)Late fee of delayed payment
▋ Q7：Is the business services in Hubei region still available?
▋ A：Yes. We continuously provide services to you by telecommuting during this special period. If you need any assistance, please click below link to check Wuhan Regional Emergency Contact list.
Wuhan Regional Emergency Contact list
▋ Q8：Are the invoice and statement service in China affected?
A: No. We can arrange the online payment and statement as normal, and we can also issue e-invoice. If there’s special service requests, please contact our local sales representatives.
9. Special Services in Hubei Area
1）▋ Q：Can I apply for special B/L release process if late payment occurs during this special period？
▋ A：Please contact dedicated sales representatives for approval of this special operation process.
2）▋ Q：I want to change to telex release or seaway bill, but Original B/L has already been sent to clients and cannot been returned to booking office. What can I do?
▋ A：The Original B/L can also be retrieved by a COSCO SHIPPING Lines office at a third place, or you can tear off the corner of B/L, mark “VOID”, and then take photos of it and sent them to us by email. This amendment fee will be waived during this special period.
3）▋ Q：Can I apply B/L release at other offices?
▋ A：Yes, and the operation fee of B/L release elsewhere can be waived during this special period of time in Wuhan region.
4）▋ Q：When will the truck service get back to normal?
▋ A：It depends on government instructions. Once the restrictions have been cancelled, the truck service will be available.
5）▋ Q： How about the arrangement of export barge service at Wuhan Yangluo Port?
▋ A：The cargo for transship via Yangshan and Waigaoqiao are currently being arranged on common feeder services. We suggest you to contact our local office to reserve allocation at least 3 days in advance during this special period of time.
