Operations at the Malta Freeport have ground to a halt after duty doctors refused to board the container vessels berthed there in order to clear them.

Cargo handlers have had to stop their work as they are instructed, by their unions, not to board any vessels before they are cleared by a doctor.

Cargo handlers are represented by three unions: the UHM – Voice of the Workers, the Malta Dockers Union and the General Workers Union.

The procedure for cargo handlers to board the ships only once they are given the all clear by a doctor have been in place for years, but the unions are enforcing the directive even more strictly in view of the global Coronavirus outbreak.