Opinion | How Hong Kong can chart a course towards living with Covid-19
- The government’s plan to exempt executives in the financial sector from quarantine measures is unfair to other key industries – like shipping
- Hong Kong’s coronavirus quandary is not going to go away, but an approach that couples vaccination with a multiple testing regime should allow some opening up

Like executives of banks and insurance companies, shipping executives must get back to normal operations and maintain relationships on a daily basis. More importantly, the nature of the shipping industry means physical assets require daily management and a physical presence is often obligatory.
Vessels under construction must be supervised and approved before delivery. Ship inspections and audits are a critical part of the maintenance cycle, essential to ensuring high safety standards to prevent accidents, casualties and environmental disasters. While remote inspections have come into their own because of Covid-19 restrictions, they are not a long-term solution.
Given the significance of the shipping sector to both Hong Kong and global supply chains, it deserves at least equal treatment when it comes to less restrictive business travel.