From September 1, Singapore is implementing revised crew change requirements and setting up a crew facilitation center to facilitate crew changes safely amid COVID-19 risks.
The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) implemented from September 1 revised requirements to the process of crew changes to better facilitate crew changes as well as mitigate the risk of having COVID-19 amongst crew members and the general public.
The signing-on crew requirements are as follows:
- All crew members except those coming from low-risk countries/regions are required to serve 14-day Stay-Home-Notice in the originating country/region.
- All crew must be certified fit to travel by the doctor in the originating country not more than 24 hours prior to departure flight and must arrive in Singapore to join the ship not more than 2 days before the ship’s departure from Singapore.
- Crew must also have obtained a negative COVID-19 test result not more than 48 hours prior to the departure flight. If the crew member was previously tested as COVID-19 positive, the date of this test must be more than 21 days from date of departure from originating country to Singapore.
- The crew changing process requires no more than 5 persons in a group and no interactions between these groups.
Signing-off crew requirements:
- Certified fit to travel by the doctor in Singapore not more than 24 hours before disembarking the ship.
- Has not gone ashore in the last 14 days before disembarking and has remained well throughout the period.
Also effective September 1, a crew facilitation center at Tanjong Pagar Terminal containing three floating accommodations designated as holding or quarantine facilities is established to enable crew changes to be facilitated in a safe manner.
These accommodations 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.
Photo courtesy of MPA
