The Paradip port. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Aug. 27: In the wake of Ebola cases in West African countries, authorities of Paradip Port Trust (PPT) are on the alert and are taking precautionary measures.

Following directions from the Union shipping ministry, the authorities have stepped up health-related vigil on crew of foreign vessels.

“The port is relatively safer because it hardly gets ships from West African countries. The traffic here is mostly from Australia, Japan and south Asian and far east countries,” said Gouri Prasad Biswal, port facility and security officer.

However, as a precautionary measure, the port officials have made medical teams to examine health of all the crew members arriving at the port.

“We are not allowing any crew member to land at the port before obtaining health clearance certificates from the medical team. Screening at the port is already in place for ship and crew members entering the port even if they are not from West Africa region,” said an official.

Health officials of the port have been trained to deal with symptoms of Ebola and initiate measures to take care of Ebola affected crew members.

“We have directed the customs and health officials to adopt preventive measures in handling cargoes and crew members at the port. All ships have to declare that there are no sick people on board and they need to satisfy certain port health requirements,” said an official.