Marine Advisory: 24/2020 - Requirements for crew change for cargo ships in the port of Singapore and for ship’s crew visiting Singapore waters to minimize the risk of community spread of COVID-19 in Singapore

31 July 2020

Marine Advisory: 24/2020

SUBJECT: Requirements for crew change for cargo ships in the port of Singapore and for ship’s crew visiting Singapore waters to minimize the risk of community spread of COVID-19 in Singapore

Ref: _a) Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) Port Marine Circular 16 of 2020

1. MPA Port Marine Circular 2₃ of 2020
2. MPA Port Marine Circular 26 of 2020
3. MPA Port Marine Circular 27 of 2020
4. MPA Port Marine Circular 31 of 2020
5. MPA Port Marine Circular 32 of 2020

Dear Shipowners/Operators/SRPS/Seafarers:

The purpose of this Marine Advisory is to provide shipowners, operators, seafarers’ recruitment and placement services (SRPS) and seafarers with the current requirements for conducting crew change for cargo ships in the port of Singapore and for ship’s crew visiting or working onboard vessels alongside wharves, in shipyards and at anchorages.

In view of the recent cases of crew members who are tested positive for COVID- 19 upon arrival in Singapore, which posed a health risk to the crew that travel with them, to the ships they were to join, and to the local community, MPA is working with the industry taskforce to provide more detailed guidelines to safeguard the crew change process. These include the need for signing-on crew to self-isolate for the 14 days before departing for Singapore, shipowners, managers and agents ensuring accurate COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, and direct transfers to the ship upon arrival in Singapore.

Crew change restrictions

With immediate effect, MPA is giving priority to applications from Singapore registered ships and applications for sign-off crew only (i.e. without signing-on new crew). For non-Singapore flagged ships, 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.

Requirements for signing-on crew

For signing-on crew, the crew and ship must fulfil the following requirements:

1. The crew need to self-isolate while serving 14-days stay home notice (SHN) at his/her home country prior to his/her departure flight. (For the period of SHN, the crew should abide by the “Health Advisory for Persons Issued Stay-Home Notice” issued by the Ministry of Health);

1. The crew must be tested for Covid-19 (PCR-type) with a negative result at his/her home country not more than 48 hours prior to his/her departure flight;

1. The crew must obtain a fit-to-travel medical certificate not more than 24 hours prior to his/her departure flight;

1. On arrival at airport immediate transfer to the ship must be provided;

1. Ships managers/agents must arrange meet-and-greet services for sign on crew arriving at Changi airport, to escort crew from the moment they disembark the plane to the point where they are handed over to the agent for the direct transfer to the ship.

Requirements for signing-off crew

For signing-off crew, the crew and ship must fulfil the following requirements:

1. Confirmation that the crew has not gone ashore in the last fourteen (14) days before leaving the ship, and remained well throughout that period;

1. Fit-to-travel medical certificate issued by a doctor in Singapore;

1. Relevant documentation meeting any of the three criteria under ‘crew change restrictions above’

1. Flight no later than 48 hours after ship’s departure, if it’s impossible and takes more than 48 hours, ships to anchor and wait for clearance;

1. If immediate transfer from ship to airport is impossible, crew are to be accommodated at holding facility. The stay at the designated holding facility is for up to 48 hours.

Other than appealing to MPA, approval from the National Environment Agency and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will also be required. Crew members can only sign off after all 3 Government Agencies have given the approval. If any one of the three agencies rejects the request, the crew will not be able to sign off.

Cargo ships meeting any of the 3 criteria and circumstances under ‘crew change restrictions’ above may submit their applications to MPA by filling up the online form at least 14 days before the planned crew changes, at https://www.mpa.gov.sg/web/portal/home/port-of-singapore/operations/crew-change

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Requirements for ship’s crew visiting or working onboard vessels alongside wharves, shipyards at anchorages

Before leaving the last port of call (before calling at the port of Singapore), the vessel’s master, owner, manager or agent should ensure that any suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infected crew on board the vessel received proper medical treatment before leaving the port and starting its journey to Singapore.

All ships scheduled or intending to call at the Port of Singapore must immediately notify and seek approval to enter the Port of Singapore if there are suspected COVID-19 cases on board or if it had conducted crew change in the past 14 days before arrival in Singapore.

All vessels arriving in the Port of Singapore must submit the Maritime Declaration of Health (MDH) to the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) Port Health Office 12 hours before arrival at Singapore Port.

The master of the ship is to conduct temperature checks for all passengers and crew members no earlier than 2 hours before arrival and provide the list of passengers/ crew members with temperature measured above 37.5 degree Celsius to the NEA Port Health Office.

For more information and frequently asked questions (FAQ), refer to references a), b), c), d), e) and f) above and to: https://www.mpa.gov.sg/web/portal/home/port-of-singapore/operations/crew-change

If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact RegsandStandards@liscr.com.

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