Boarding formalities

20 Mar 2020 / Batangas, Philippines

For most Asian Countries, Boarding Party (CIQS) are presently not going inside the vessels. This started since Covid-19 has been declared pandemic and this is basically the right time to adopt the same measure.

  1. Maritime Declaration of Health will be used as a tool to determine the health condition of the Ship Master and all the Vessel Crew. Failure to report any unhealthy condition of any of the crew inside the vessel is a clear violation Quarantine Act of 2004. According to the International Health Regulation of 2005, Master of the Vessel are required to undergo training of determining or diagnosing crew. Failure to declare sick person on board is strictly subject for penalty. Temperature Check is not a guarantee that the Quarantine Doctor will be able to detect if any of the crew has already contracted Covid-19 since many of the patients were asymptomatic.

  2. 14-day Quarantine of the vessel, furthermore, is not a guarantee that all crew are healthy since some Covid-19 patients are asymptomatic even after that specified timeframe. In this case, they may not be manifesting any symptoms, but they are considered as “Carrier” and they might be able transmit the infection to other crew. To protect both the crew and the boarding party, we decided to conduct the boarding formalities in the tugboat to minimize transmission.

  3. If one of us, boarding party or one of the crew, has been detected or diagnosed as Covid-19 positive, it will be easier for “Contact Tracing” will be easier since only one person from the ship will be in contact with us.

  4. In the event that the Master of the Vessel answers a “YES” to any of the questions in the Maritime Declaration of Health, the Quarantine Medical Officer will immediately board the vessel and assess the possible PUI (Person Under Investigation).

(For information about operations in the Philippines, contact GAC Philippines at [email protected])

Source: Bureau of Quarantine – Batangas Station letter dated 20 March 2020

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

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