Enhancements to crew change for cargo ships

From 1 September, MPA will consider the following circumstances for crew change applications:
(a) crew whose employment contract has expired;
(b) additional crew on board whose sign-off would not affect the safe manning of the ship;
(c) change of crew due to the sale or purchase of ship;
(d) personnel who are not part of the ship’s crew such as superintendents and service engineers;
(e) compassionate grounds e.g. death of family member; or
(f) the crew is no longer medically fit to work onboard the ship.

The requirements for crew change are as follows:

SIGNING-ON

a) In general, all signing-on crew are required to serve 14-days Stay-HomeNotice (SHN) in the originating country/region. The crew should be properly isolated (individual room with dedicated toilet) with strictly no interaction with others (including family members) at his/her place of residence, or serve the SHN in a dedicated facility/hotel.

b) Crew from specific low risk countries/regions will either no longer be required to serve the SHN or serve a shorter SHN of 7 days in the originating country/region prior to departure for Singapore. Please refer to Annex A for more details.

c) In addition to the SHN requirement, if a crew was previously diagnosed with COVID-19, the date of first ever positive PCR test must be more than 21 days ago from date of departure from the home country to Singapore.

d) The crew must have a negative result from a COVID-19 test (polymerase chain reaction (PCR) type) taken at a government-approved or ISO 15189-accredited testing facility not more than 48 hours prior to the departure flight.

e) The crew shall be certified fit-to-travel by a doctor at his/her originating country not more than 24 hours prior to the departure flight.

f) During the entire crew change process, especially during the journey to join the ship in Singapore, crew may be in groups of not more than five (5) persons, but must remain in the same group, and there must be no interactions between the groups.

g) The crew shall only arrive Singapore to join his/her ship not more than two (2) days before the ship’s departure from Singapore.

SIGNING-OFF

a) The crew must not have gone ashore in the last 14 days before disembarking the ship and has remained well throughout that period.

b) The crew shall be certified fit-to-travel by a doctor in Singapore not more than 24 hours before disembarking the ship.

For crew changes to take place safely, MPA continues to expect all owners, agents, ships and individuals to ensure that the COVID-19 preventive measures are followed strictly. Any breach will be taken seriously.

Ship owners/managers/agents must apply for crew change in Singapore by filling up the online form at www.mpa.gov.sg/web/portal/home/port-ofsingapore/operations/crew-change. As MPA expects a high volume of applications, we urge ship owners/managers/agents to submit applications at least 14 days before the planned crew change, especially if the application includes sign-on crew. For foreign-flagged ships, crew change will be considered if the ship meets all prevailing requirements, and are in Singapore for cargo operations, bunkering and/or other marine services.

Shipowners/managers/agents should check and ensure sign-off crew comply with the latest entry restrictions/requirements for the sign-off crew’s destination country.

ESTABLISHMENT OF CREW FACILITATION CENTRE (CFC) AT TANJONG PAGAR TERMINAL

To enhance the capacity of designated holding facilities in Singapore, MPA, with the support of PSA Corporation Limited, have set up a self-contained Crew Facilitation Centre (CFC) at Tanjong Pagar Terminal, as of 1 Sep 2020. The CFC will allow Singapore to facilitate more crew changes in a sustainable manner and with minimal health risk to the general population. Three floating accommodations at the CFC will be designated as holding or quarantine facilities. These will house sign-on crew that are waiting for their ships’ arrival for up to 48 hours, and a quarantine facility to house close contacts of crew who are tested positive for COVID-19. There will also be an on-site medical service provider for healthcare services within the CFC. Please refer to Annex B for details of the designated holding facilities…

ANNEX A

SHN requirements for sign-on crew (as at 28 Aug 2020)

Brunei Darussalam, New Zealand
- No SHN required but crew must remain in originating country for the last consecutive 14 days prior to entry to Singapore.

Australia (excluding Victoria State), Macao, Mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia
- 7-days SHN in originating country.

Other countries
- 14-days SHN in originating country.

In addition to the SHN requirement, if a crew was previously diagnosed with COVID19, the date of first ever positive PCR test must be more than 21 days ago from date of departure from the home country to Singapore.

ANNEX B

Designated holding facilities for SIGN-ON crew

Floatels @ Tanjong Pagar Terminal
Rooms: Air-conditioned with en-suite bathroom
Meals: All three meals are included. Meals will be delivered to the room.
For reservations, please contact: +65 8939 7507, [email protected]

Designated holding facilities for SIGN-OFF crew

Seacare Hotel
Rooms: Air-conditioned with en-suite bathroom
Meals: All three meals are included. Meals will be delivered to the room.
For reservations, please contact: Phang Jing Huei +65 6818 2680, [email protected]

Accommodation vessel Posh Bawean
Rooms: Air-conditioned with en-suite bathroom
Meals: All three meals are included. Meals will be delivered to the room.
For reservations, please contact: Jonathan Ng +65 9740 4775, [email protected]

(For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Singapore, contact GAC Singapore at [email protected])

Source: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Port Marine Circular No.36 of 2020 dated 28 August 2020