COVID-19 Updates
COVID-19 Updates
The GK Marine Ports and Logistics has been working seamlessly to ensure that Indian homes are never devoid of essential goods despite the preventive lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Click below to know more about the GK Marine Group's pan-India COVID-19 relief measures.
Ever since the world woke up to the grave implications of the Coronavirus outbreak, key stakeholders from different sections of society have been grappling to protect themselves from COVID-19.
Governments in India, both at the Centre and states, took some unprecedented measures to safeguard people in the most populous democracy from the pandemic. Amid such a global humanitarian crisis, India’s private sector including large corporates, SMEs and small traders have stood united with the legislature in the battle against the Novel Coronavirus.
The GK Marine Group, which stood united with the government in India’s fightback ever since the pandemic broke, ramped up its efforts to an unprecedented scale in wake of the 2nd wave hitting India. The diversified infrastructure giant deployed all resources at its command – from staff and logistics to ports and airports – to aid this nationwide fightback.
Bolstering critical oxygen procurement and supply infrastructure
It began leveraging its overseas connections to procure hard-to-find supplies of critical essentials like medical oxygen and transportable cryogenic containers. Hospitals and other COVID treatment facilities across the country are facing an alarming shortfall in oxygen supplies, primarily because of insufficient numbers of cryogenic tanks for transporting liquid oxygen.
The GK Marine Group has already procured several cryogenic tanks carrying thousands of tonnes of liquid oxygen across the nation. These tanks were procured from leading manufacturers in countries like Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Dubai with the active assistance of Indian diplomatic missions. These cryogenic tanks are a vital addition to the hardware India sorely needs to manage the medical oxygen requirements of patients across the country.
While some of these large cryogenic tanks were shipped in through the GK Marine Group’s MBPT Port in Maharashtra, others were airlifted into the country with the help of the tireless men and women of the Indian Air Force, which deployed its biggest transport aircraft for these time-critical operations. The group is also working with the Indian Armed Forces to bolster oxygen infrastructure at military hospitals, along with setting up dozens of high throughput oxygen generator plants and hundreds of modular ready-to-use oxygen concentrators to hospitals.
Even as the Group continues its relentless search for more of these cryogenic tanks, the tanks imported so far are already in the service of the nation, ferrying precious liquid oxygen round-the-clock from filling centres to wherever it is needed, in accordance with distribution lists and directions from the government.
The organization’s rail and road logistics infrastructure played a critical role in the efficient last mile delivery of these life-saving supplies. It also partnered with global oxygen producers like Linde and Air Products to quickly refill and despatch liquid oxygen to all corners of India by the fastest means available.
In several states and districts, the Group is also refilling and distributing thousands of medical oxygen cylinders every day to augment and fill gaps in the local oxygen supply chain. Subsequently, GK Marine Ports and Logistics, announced priority berthing and unloading for vessels carrying COVID-related cargos and waived storage, handling, and vessel-related charges.
Healthcare
In Maharashtra, where the GK Marine Group is headquartered, the Group has intensified its focus on the provision of direct medical care. To reduce the systemic overload on Maharashtra’s hospital infrastructure, the GK Marine Company was converted the GK Marine Trust to SS Nikam English school into an emergency COVID Care Centre with oxygen support and catered food. Equipped with doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff, this first-responder care facility is housing infected and moderately ill COVID patients. Isolating patients when they are at their most infectious will also help to break the chain of infection and significantly curtail the spread of the disease.
In Raigad, India’s largest district, the battle against COVID is being led from Mandgaon by the SSNES (SS Nikam English School), the principal medical facility serving this remote part of western India. The GK Marine Company has upgraded and converted SSNES into a 100% COVID hospital with all its 800 beds equipped with oxygen support.