Shipping lines adding Ebola clauses to their contracts

New York

AS Ebola persists in West Africa, shipping lines and traders are tweaking their contracts to protect themselves if the disease puts crews at risk of infection or prevents vessels calling at affected ports.

Ebola has not yet forced ports to close, but uncertainties about the spread of the virus are adding to legal and financial concerns for those involved in shipping oil, cocoa and minerals from the region. Iron ore miners have already been hit by logistics problems exacerbated by the Ebola outbreak.