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, 26 March 2021
Circular letter no.4204/addendum no.38 issued on 25 March 2021 pertaining to a Joint-statement calling on all Governments to prioritize COVID-19 vaccination for seafarers and aircrew.
As of today, the countries that have informed the IMO of the above are: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, the Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu.
Reference: MSC.7/circ.1/Rev.24
Additional details available on our implementation page.
Transport Canada issued on 19 March,a Ship Safety Bulletin (SSB) 04/2021 to replace SSB#21/2020 effective 1st April 2021. This SSB applies to Canadian seafarers and authorised representatives of Canadian-flagged ships and pertains, amongst others, to extensions to be provided to marine personnel certificates, certificates of competency, marine medical certificates and temporary measures for seafarers unable to obtain a discharge book.
The Italian government in reviewing the current COVID-19 situation, updated instructions whereby the automatic three-month extension of the validity of statutory certificates will be withdrawn and to re-establish the previous inspection procedures for ships. However, the possibility of requesting for extensions as well as remote surveys is available provided certain procedures are followed. Full details are in the IMO circular no. 4231/Add.19.
The Russian Ministry of Transport extends Certificates of Competence as well as the endorsements on recognition of certificates issued by another Government and other relevant STCW certificates for another 3 months. No additional entries in documents or issuance of new documents is required. Full details are available via an IMO circular letter no. 4237/Add.19.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has issued updated crew change requirements in their most recent circular port marine circular (PMC) no. 10/2021, replacing PMC nos. 26, 27 of 2020; and no. 5 and 7 of 2021.
A summary of the revised and updated requirements as provided below but please read the circular for full guidance:
Signing-on crew requirements as follows:
Signing-off crew requirements as follows:
MPA will facilitate pre-departure COVID-19 PCR testing for sign-off crew. Please refer to paragraphs 15-17 for full details.
General Information
According to information provided by the UK Department of Transport, seafarers are exempted from the following general measures:
The seafarer shall present documentation of their status, e.g., Seafarer's Identification Document.
The US Coast Guard issued a "Change-1" to the Marine Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB) 02-21 on COVID-19 Safety Requirements in the Maritime Transportation System to reflect the inclusion of sea ports, providing additional information on applicability for mask wear in the marine transportation system and links to Coast Guard and CDC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages.
There is no news issued under this section.
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 :
You can also view all information on our COVID-19 landing page.
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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