BIMCO COVID 19 weekly report
Overview
The BIMCO Maritime Information department informs members on a weekly basis, updates about the COVID-19 in relation to implementation measures imposed by governments for sea transport including for crew change as well as from the United Nation bodies like the International Maritime Organization (IMO), World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO).
BIMCO provides the following update for this week ending Friday, 19 February 2021
1. IMO
IMO has issued the following corrigendum to the following circular:
- Circular letter no. 4204/Add.37 dated 16 February 2021 relating to the third video meeting for Port State Control ( PSC) regimes on harmonized action during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. IMO Crew Change - National Focal Point for Crew Change and Repatriation of Seafarers
As of today, the countries that have informed the IMO of the above are: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu
Reference: MSC.7/circ.1/Rev.22
Additional details available on our implementation page.
3. Government States
France
The government of France has extended the state of emergency to end on 1 June 2021. As a consequence, the seafarers' certificates as mentioned in the IMO circular letter no 4234/Add.8, expiring from 12 March 2020 are extended to 1st June 2021.
Portugal
The Portuguese government maintains the cruise ship ban. Travel restrictions have been updated according to infection figures.
Singapore
- The Maritime and Port Authroity of Singapore issued MPC circular no. 7/2021 dated 15 February updating their crew change requirements with immediate effect of the same date. Take note that this circular is supplementary to PMC 05/2021 . The new requirement relates to sign-off crew where approval must be sought for them requiring a COViD-19 pre-departure test ( PDT) which is a requirement in some countries or even some airlines before they are allowed to transit or enter.
- The MPA has implemented with immediate effect from 15 February, the table below on validity period of crew change applications in order to prevent crew change applications from lapsing:
Fiji
The Fijian Maritime Safety Authority in a Marine Notice 14/2021 via an IMO circular letter no. 4385 has granted a general extension on the validity of seafarer's certificates (STCW and medical certificates) for a period of 6 months upon expiry or until 10 August 2021 whichever comes earlier.
For further details on additional countries, please refer to our implementation page.
4. Others
There is no report for this section.
5. BIMCO
BIMCO General COVID-19 Links
BIMCO is continuously monitoring COVID-19 restrictions and its impact on the shipping industry in particular on crew changes. Below are some of the type of information currently being provided by BIMCO :
- Details about implementation measures imposed for sea transport
- Overview of challenges to crew mobility
- Overview of extensions and exceptions to seafarers' certificates
- COVID-19 seafarers' mental health
You can also view all information on our COVID-19 landing page.
Feedback or a question about this information?
Posted:
19 February 2021
VPS Bunker Alerts
Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) publish regular Bunker Alerts based entirely on fuel samples and have kindly permitted BIMCO’s Members to access this information.
The Bunker Alerts are not intended to be an evaluation of overall bunker quality in the port or area concerned, but usually highlight a specific parameter within the fuel which has raised a quality issue.
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