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Measures introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have brought widespread disruption to normal crew change operations, with many seafarers prevented from disembarking or joining their vessels.
GAC Angola’s General Manager Kosala Wijesinghe presents his guide to the current status of crew changes in the country including: where they may be conducted; what restrictions are in place; what requirements must be met; and how many changes GAC Angola has handled to date.
What challenges and restrictions do shipowners/operators face when arranging crew changes in Angola, and how have your local contacts helped to ease the situation?
Currently, crew changes for foreign nationals are not permitted in Angola. The airport also remains closed since 19 March. Crew changes of local nationals have been permitted lately, but those signing-off and signing-on are required to follow a 14-day quarantine period at a government approved facility and undergo a COVID-19 test.
The only exceptions have been on direct requests from oil & gas companies operating in Angola through the association of oil & gas operators. Special charter flights have been arranged either by Embassies and/or by the companies directly for signing-off crew and other company representatives.
How many crew change operations have you successfully executed since COVID-19 lockdowns started?
To date, we have performed 66 sign-ons and 120 sign-offs for local nationals. For foreign nationals, 64 sign-ons and 36 sign-offs.
Are there any specific crew change examples you wish to highlight?
As the owners’ agent for a Well Stimulation Vessel, we arranged all the ground logistics for 11 crew to be disembarked under special permission from the Ministry of Health and COVID-19 Commission, for onward repatriation to India in a chartered humanitarian flight organised by the Indian Embassy. Transportation was arranged for the 11 crew to travel approximately 490km from Soyo to Luanda to board the humanitarian flight.
We also handled the disembarkation of local crew from vessels calling at Angola LNG facility where quarantine facilities, daily temperature checks, ground logistics and COVID-19 tests were arranged.
There is great uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic; how long it will last, and what its impact will be. How are you managing this from a crew change and lay-ups perspective? What are your expectations for the coming months?
The situation and opening-up of crew movements are beyond our control and it is still unclear what we can expect in the coming months. What we do know is that crew movements have to start, sooner rather than later, even if normal passenger movements are restricted. We hope that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will be successful in its campaign to have seafarers designated as key workers.
For lay-ups, there are no special provisions in Angola for charges related to lay-up vessels. The current charges do not make it an economically feasible option.
Is there anything else you wish to add?
Great effort is being made whilst performing crew changes to ensure compliance with the Ministry of Health’s guidelines which include mandatory quarantine, daily temperature checks and COVID-19 tests.
For the latest updates about COVID-19 status/measures and the impact on shipping, including crew changes, in countries around the world, go to www.gac.com/coronavirus.