Friday 5th March
We can now confirm our office is operative. However we have suffered some I.T technical issues, which will hopefully be resolved asap.
Wednesday 3rd March
Latest Update: The below update was received overnight from our colleagues in Chile.
Although the situation continues to improve in Chile, there has not been much progress since Tuesday.
We have had confirmed that our office building has not suffered any major structural damage. A few security checks are still in order: water pipes, electric wirings, smoke detectors, but will only be conducted when power has been re-instated. This should happen today - 3rd March, which means that our staff could be back at work on Thursday 4th March (still to be confirmed).
It is only then that we will know whether our local computer servers are working or not and they were thrown about in the quake. We will invoke appropriate contingencies as may be required once this is known.
The port of Valparaiso is working 90% of its capacity, but San Antonio is only partially operational, many areas of the port still without power. The international road is open with Argentina. The Shipping Lines have advised they intend to maintain their schedules at both ports, but delays are to be expected. Calls are cancelled in the southern ports, but this does not affect the wine shipments. Export loadings will be limited to containers already in the stacking area.
Our office is currently working to establish the status of orders at the port awaiting shipment. Severe disruptions are to be expected for future shipments in the coming weeks and a lot of wineries located south of Santiago are reporting serious damage.
We will issue more information as it becomes available.