Crew changes at South African ports

02 Mar 2022 / South Africa

Foreign crew changes are now permitted at South Africa’s nine commercial ports.

Signing-on crew must produce a negative PCR test certificate or a valid certificate of COVID-19 negative test results, obtained not more than 72 hours before the date of travel, from an accredited laboratory and in line with World Health Organisation requirements at the first South African port of entry.

In the event of a crew member’s failure to produce a valid PCR test certificate, this will warrant quarantine at the crew member’s own cost.

Signing-off crew are not required to produce a valid PCR test certificate if the vessel has not had crew changes or has not visited a foreign port within 10 days before arrival at a South African sea port.

A crew member’s failure to adhere to the above requirement will warrant quarantine at the crew member’s own cost.

Foreign crew may layover at a designated quarantine facility for a period not exceeding seven days, at their own cost, but mist proceed directly to ports of entry once this period has lapsed and must also comply with South African immigration requirements and port health protocols.

Cruise ships are prohibited from calling at any South African sea port, except for the disembarkation of returning:
- South African crew
- South African citizens
or
- holders of South African permanent residence permits.

For further details and updates, as well as 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.