COVID-19 update

18 Aug 2020 / Cape Town, South Africa

PORT STATUS

  • Port is fully operation, however priority is given to vessels carrying essential cargo. The government has announced that country restriction level has been reduced to 2 from midnight of 18 August 2020. This will allow for more economic activity.
  • Port is operating under Maritime Security level 2. Vessels to specify on Paragraph J what they are going to do at the Port on their PAN application.
  • No persons allowed to board vessels, unless on official business and they are required to wear the necessary PPE.
  • Bunkering is proceeding as normal. Bunkers is supplied via pipeline and barge.

OPLs / SHIPS SPARES

  • Off port limit operations are permitted only for supplying of provisions/stores and ships spares.
  • Ships spares operations are ongoing, however shipments need to be booked and dispatched early as there are limited flights. At this stage, there are still no direct flights to Cape Town; shipments are routed via Johannesburg.

CREW CHANGE

  • Crew change remains restricted across all South African ports. The government has issued a notice that crew change has been permitted from 1 August 2020. However, port authorities have advised that until a directive is received from their head office, crew change remains restricted. Presently, there remains no international flights due to the current pandemic.
  • Port authorities will only permit crew change provided that approval is received from DIRCO. Approval from DIRCO can only be obtained via the embassy of crew nationality within South Africa. This approval can only be received if chartered flights can be arranged on the same day of embarkation/disembarkation.

PORT AUTHORITIES

  • Immigrations office are open between 0700-1900hrs (local time). No attendance onboard until further notice. All arrival/sailing documents are to be submitted to agent for submission to immigrations.
  • Customs offices are operating between 0700-2000hrs (local time) remotely. All clearances are sent via email. Electronic clearance will be issued to vessels until further notice.
  • Port Health will clear all in port vessels before any interaction with the vessel.

(For information about operations in South Africa contact GAC South Africa at [email protected])

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

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