Revision of crew change regulations

24 Jul 2020 / Singapore

Singapore has seen three cases within one week, where crew members scheduled to sign-on to ocean-going cargo ships were found to be COVID-19 positive upon arrival. This has prevented the shipping companies concerned from conducting successful crew changes. Resources were also put in to isolate and minimise the probability of any spread of the virus to others including fellow crew members.

Given the increasing number of crew change applications, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will need to prioritise new crew change applications. These will include crew with expiry of contracts which flag States are not extending further, Singapore-registered ships, and crew sign-offs.

With immediate effect:

  • MPA will give priority to applications from Singapore-registered ships and applications for sign-off crew only (i.e. without signing-on new crew).

  • For all other cases, MPA will consider the following circumstances for crew change applications:
    (a) the crew has served his/her maximum time on board and no further extension of the employment contract is granted by the flag State; or
    (b) compassionate grounds e.g. death of immediate family member; or
    (c) the crew is no longer medically fit to work onboard the ship.

  • MPA is also working with the industry taskforce to review the guidelines on the ‘safe-corridor’ procedures in order to safeguard the crew change process. This includes the need to self-isolate while serving the 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN), to ensure accurate COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, and direct transfers from airport to ship for the crew while in Singapore to minimise contact.

  • MPA has separately provided guidance to all Singapore-registered ships on the best practices that they can adopt. For example, if any crew on board is tested for COVID-19 while the ship is in port, the ship should wait for the test results and take necessary measures before departing the port.

  • As an added precaution in the Port of Singapore, all shore personnel in contact with ship crew are advised to don face shields or goggles in addition to face masks and gloves when working on the ships. For ships which have conducted crew change in the past 14 days, shore personnel are advised to ensure that there is no contact with the ship crew.

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

Source: Singapore Shipowners’ Association

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

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