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Singapore continues to take a calibrated and risk-based approach in determining the precautions and measures for the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 23 March 2020, 2359H, crew and passengers on short term visits have not been allowed to disembark in Singapore, unless given special prior approval from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
Measures and Requirements for Vessels
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.
Vessels arriving in Singapore should adopt the following measures:
a. All crew members are to take and record their temperature twice daily.
b. All crew members are advised to maintain good hygiene in accommodation areas by cleaning frequently touched surfaces (e.g. desks, door handles, switches, telephones, etc.).
c. Master of the vessel should isolate unwell crew members and passengers.
d. The vessel’s master should follow NEA’s guidance for disinfecting common areas and rooms.
Precautionary Measures for Marine Services Providers
The following additional precautionary measures should be considered by marine services providers when conducting marine operations for vessels. These additional measures are drawn up based on consultations with Singapore’s Ministry of Health. Shore personnel or the vessel’s master and crew, as appropriate, should:
a. Carry out, and log, twice daily temperature checks.
b. Practise safe distancing (1 metre apart) and minimise contact with the vessel’s crew. Where it is not feasible or practical to apply safe distancing, there should be 1 metre between groups, where each group is not more than five persons, and no mixing between groups.
c. If the vessel changed any of its crew in the past 14 days, wear a mask and goggles/face shields (if required), and ensure no contact with the vessel’s crew.
d. Seek medical attention promptly if feeling unwell.
e. Observe good personal hygiene and avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.
f. Practice frequent hand washing with soap.
g. Avoid shaking hands and adopt other non-contact greeting methods.
h. Reduce ship-shore activities by reducing ship-shore exchanges, internal and external audits, non-essential maintenance and other non- essential activities.
i. Strengthen gangway or ladder control by implementing stricter ISPS procedures. This includes enhancing the stairway control, checking the credentials of all shore personnel boarding the vessel, and checking and logging their temperatures. Access should be denied to shore personnel displaying flu-like symptoms.
j. Maintain a log of movements of all persons for the purposes of contact tracing.
k. Minimise unnecessary interactions between the vessel’s crew and shore personnel. Unnecessary boarding visits should be prohibited (e.g. limit unnecessary entry of agents, tally, foremen, suppliers and other foreign personnel into the crew living area to reduce ship-shore exchanges). Conduct briefings and completion of paperwork through electronic means as far as possible.
l. Only essential vessel crew and shore personnel to be in the same work area if necessary, which has to be well ventilated at all times.
The above list of precautionary measures is not exhaustive, and companies/individuals may wish to take other reasonable precautionary measures.
Owners/managers/supervisors of marine services companies are to take note of all available health advisories and bring it to the attention of your company and employees. Companies wishing to implement additional preventive measures in line with their respective company policies should ensure these additional measures comply with prevailing standards/procedures applicable in the Port of Singapore.
(For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Singapore, contact GAC Singapore at [email protected])
Source: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Port Marine Circular No.32 of 2020 dated 24 July 2020