Bulk crew changes through Offshore Crew Transit Hub (OCTH)

11 Dec 2020 / Sri Lanka

The President of Sri Lanka has approved bulk crew changes of international seafarers with immediate effect, through an Offshore Crew Transit Hub (OCTH) operated by a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP).

The crew transit hub is a passenger vessel stationed in Sri Lankan territorial waters providing a temporary stay for seafarers during bulk crew change operations. The crew changes taken place through the OCTH should be only on the basis of direct bulk crew changes facilitated via chartered flights from/to Mattala International Airport.

Disembarking Crew:

  • Disembarkation of crew from a vessel and send them directly to the OCTH. Once charter flights are available, they will be transferred directly to the airport for repatriation.

Embarking Crew:

  • On-signers who arrive in the country by charter flight will be directly sent to the OCTH from the airport and then embarked to the vessels as per the schedule.
  • PCR test should be done for every on-signer within 72 hours prior to boarding the flight. These should be made available to respective Port Health Officer (PHO) prior to their landing in Sri Lanka.

Required Details & Applicable Time Limits:

  • Approval for every bulk arrival of seafarers via airports will be granted by Director - Quarantine. A formal request letter addressed to the Director - Quarantine should be submitted along with relevant requested details.
  • A period of 72 hours is required to process the request.

PCR & COVID Positive Crew:

Since the seafarers are directly transferred from airport to the OCTH and vice versa, they are exempted from PCR testing conducted at the Points of Entry (unless requested by authorities on a case by case). Crew changes should be done under the supervision of Sri Lanka Navy and they should escort the crew transport vehicle.
If any seafarer becomes positive for COVID-19 PCR test, provision for treatment should be given in the designated intermediate care facility.

The relevant charges applicable for this operation and date of commencement are due to be advised within the next 10 days.

The prevailing procedure for direct crew transfers via chartered flights is still permitted.

Foreign crew embarkation/disembarkation via commercial flights is still not permitted in Sri Lanka.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Sri Lanka, contact GAC Sri Lanka at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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