JNPT hit as new Petya virus sweeps across globe

The government today confirmed that one of the terminals at the JNPT port near Mumbai has been impacted by the latest malware attack that has hit computers from the Ukraine to the US.

"The (shipping) ministry has confirmed that one terminal at JNPT has been affected due to the attack at Maersk's Hague office," an official said, adding that the government will share a report or a statement as soon as it comes to this effect.

Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk confirmed that its operations were hit by the cyberattack. "We can confirm that on Tuesday, June 27, AP Moller-Maersk was hit as part of a cyberattack named Petya, affecting multiple sites and select business units," Maersk said in a tweet.

''We are talking about a cyberattack,'' said Anders Rosendahl, a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based Maersk group said. ''It has affected all branches of our business, at home and abroad.''

Firms that were hit today include Russia's biggest oil company Rosneft, global advertising giant WPP Group and multiple institutions in Ukraine, including its central bank and an international airport.

Maersk said, "We are responding to the situation to contain and limit the impact and uphold operations."

The group said it is "assessing and managing" the situation to minimise the impact on its customers and partners.

Operations at a terminal of JNPT, India's largest container port, were impacted last night as a fallout of the global ransomware attack, which crippled some central banks and many large corporations in Europe.

AP Moller-Maersk, one of the affected entities globally, operates the Gateway Terminals India (GTI) at JNPT, which has a capacity to handle 1.8 million standard container units.

"We have been informed that the operations at GTI have come to a standstill because their systems are down (due to the malware attack). They are trying to work manually," a senior JNPT official told PTI on Tuesday night.

The official explained that JNPT is trying to help the company, but there is little that others can do as the problem is with the systems.

Fearing some clogging up of cargo, additional parking space is being made available, the official said, promising to help in any possible manner.

The Hague-based APM Terminals also operates the Pipavav terminal in Gujarat. It is a subsidiary of shipping giant Maersk.

Foreign media reports from the The Hague, Netherlands quoting the pubcaster RTV Rijnmond said a new ransomware virus called Petya has hit 17 APM terminals, including two in Rotterdam and 15 in other parts of the world.

"We can confirm that Maersk's IT systems are down across multiple geographies and business units due to a cyberattack. We continue to assess the situation. The safety of our employees, our operation and our customers businesses is our top priority. We will update when we have more information," the spokesperson said in a written statement issued globally.