COVID-19 updates (21 August)

24 Aug 2020 / Cape Town, South Africa

PORT STATUS

  • Port is fully operational, however giving priority to vessels carrying essential cargo. Government have reduced restriction level to 2 as at 18 August. Increasing economic activity.
  • Port 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 must wear necessary PPE.
  • Bunkering is proceeding as normal. Bunkers supplied via pipeline and barge.

OPLs / SHIP SPARES

  • Off port limit operations are permitted only for supplying of provisions/stores & ships spares.
  • Ships spares 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

  • A meeting is set to be held tomorrow (Tuesday 25 August) to discuss concerns on procedure regarding crew change. The details will be shared once a conclusion has been finalized.

PORT AUTHORITIES

  • Immigration office is open between 0700 - 1900 hrs. No attendance onboard until further notice. All arrival/sailing documents submitted to agent and submitted to immigrations.
  • Customs offices are operating between 0700 - 2000 hrs 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.

Note: South Africa is still in level 2 lockdown and international flights are currently not permitted. Any crew change will have to be carried out via chartered flights, but these are very limited at the moment.

For more information, please contact GAC Cape Town at [email protected]

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