Covid outbreaks are hitting ships globally, with cases increasing “exponentially,” said Francesco Gargiulo, CEO of the International Maritime Employers’ Council Ltd., which represents shipping companies. Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, which has an active crew of about 16,000, is seeing infections on five to seven vessels a month compared with only one or two a month last year, the company said. Meanwhile, Wilhelmsen Ship Management Ltd. has had infections on four of its ships since January after less than a dozen vessels were struck with Covid in all of 2021, said Carl Schou, chief executive officer at the ship manager.