Hot Port News from GAC
10-Nov-2020
DOCKERS’ STRIKE SUSPENDED
Montoir & Saint-Nazaire, France
RESTRICTIONS ON ARRIVALS FROM DENMARK
United Kingdom
FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS TO CREW CHANGE FOR CARGO SHIPS
Singapore
TROPICAL STORM ULYSSES
Philippines
ATTACKS ON SHIPS
Singapore Straits, Singapore
NOTIFICATION OF INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Australia
COVID-19 TEST REQUIREMENT
Norway
Dockers’ strike suspended
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Montoir & Saint-Nazaire, France
The CGT dockers’ union of Montoir & Saint-Nazaire have suspended the 24-hour strike they called for today (10 November).
However, it was decided to stop work for one hour per shift until the end of negotiations to be held on Thursday 12 November.
There will be no impact on the LNG terminal, Donges terminals and in Nantes.
(For information about operations in France, contact the GAC Dubai Hub Agency Centre at hub.ae@gac.com)
Source: SEA-Invest Shipping Agency – GAC agent
Restrictions on arrivals from Denmark
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, United Kingdom
Due to additional risks posed by COVID-19 in Denmark, the UK Government is imposing severe restrictions are being imposed on anyone arriving into the UK, in any capacity, directly or indirectly from Denmark or has been in Denmark within the previous 14 days prior to their arrival.
This includes restrictions on the crew of any vessel which has been into a Danish port, whether or not they have been given temporary shore leave at a Danish port, and any crew who have joined a vessel in a Danish port, all within the last 14 days.
The current position from Border Force is as follows:
“Vessels bringing in unaccompanied freight can enter the UK, providing that the crew do not have meaningful contact with UK residents (for instance, they may disembark to inspect the outside of the vehicle/vessel, but may not interact with residents or pass border control during the discharge of cargo)”.
For any vessel arriving in the UK that has been in a Danish port within the last 14 days, the crew may not leave the vessel in the UK except to inspect the outside of that vessel. They must follow all the safe systems of work and may not interact closely with anyone on the dockside, including port staff and anyone loading the vessel with cargo or provisions, and under no circumstances can they be given temporary shore leave for any reason.
Any vessel which has travelled directly from Denmark, or been in Denmark within the past 14 days, will not be allowed to discharge foreign nationals in the UK. Foreign nationals will require to stay on the vessel and are not allowed ashore for any reason, including crew changes.
UK and Irish Citizens, and any person with EU Settlement status in the UK will be allowed to leave the vessel to go home, but must self-isolate for 14 days, along with all members of their respective households.
For any person travelling to the UK to join a vessel – if they have travelled from Denmark, or transited Denmark, they will be refused entry at the border. Current exemptions for seafarers relating to the need to self-isolate when travelling from other locations do not apply to those coming via Denmark.
Crew seeking to repatriate home by signing off in the UK will be refused entry if they have arrived from Denmark. Nor will they be permitted to leave the vessel on Temporary Shore leave.
For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in the United Kingdom, contact GAC UK at uk@gac.com
Further enhancements to crew change for cargo ships
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Singapore
MPA will continue to consider the following circumstances for crew change applications:
(a) crew whose employment contract has expired;
(b) additional crew on board whose sign-off would not affect the safe manning of the ship;
(c) change of crew due to the sale or purchase of ship;
(d) personnel who are not part of the ship’s crew such as superintendents and service engineers;
(e) compassionate grounds e.g. death of family member;
or
(f) the crew is no longer medically fit to work onboard the ship.
MPA has reviewed and revised the requirements for crew change as follows:
SIGN-ON
(a) In general, all signing-on crew are required to serve 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) in the crew’s originating country/region in the period immediately prior to his/her departure flight/ferry to Singapore. The crew should be completely isolated in a room with a dedicated toilet with strictly no interaction with others (including family members) at his/her place of residence, or serve the SHN in a dedicated facility/hotel.
(b) Crew from specific low risk countries/regions will either no longer be required to serve the SHN or serve a shorter SHN of 7 days in his/her originating country/region prior to departure for Singapore. Please refer to ICA’s website (https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg/files/SHN-and-swabsummary.pdf) for the latest list of low risk countries/regions.
(c) The crew must have a negative result from a COVID-19 test (polymerase chain reaction (PCR) type) taken at a government-approved or ISO 15189-accredited testing facility at his/her originating country not more than 72 hours prior to departure for Singapore.
(d) The crew must be certified fit-to-travel by a doctor at his/her originating country not more than 24 hours prior to departure for Singapore.
(e) During the entire crew change process, including during the journey to Singapore, the crew should not be in a group of more than five (5) persons, and must remain in the same group. There must be no interactions between groups.
(f) The crew should only arrive Singapore to join his/her ship not more than two (2) days before the ship’s departure from Singapore.
(g) Crew who have recovered from COVID-19 must submit documentary proof of his/her past diagnosis of COVID-19 based on the earliest positive PCR test result.
i. If the date of the positive PCR test result is 21 days or fewer before the date of arrival in Singapore, he/she will not be approved for crew change.
ii. If the date of the positive PCR test result is between 22 to 90 days before the date of arrival in Singapore, the recovered crew need not serve the SHN at his/her originating country/region and take a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours before departure for Singapore.
iii. If the date of the positive PCR test result is between 91 to 180 days before the date of arrival in Singapore, he/she must serve a 14-day SHN at his/her originating country/region. The recovered crew need not take a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours before departure for Singapore, but if he/she develops symptoms during the SHN period, he/she must be tested for COVID-19.
iv. If the positive PCR test result is more than 180 days before the date of arrival in Singapore, he/she must serve a 14-day SHN at his/her originating country and take a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours before departure for Singapore.
SIGN-OFF
(a) The crew must not have gone ashore in the last 14 days before disembarking the ship, must have remained well and not had contact with any known or suspect case of COVID-19 throughout that period.
(b) The crew must be certified fit-to-travel by a doctor in Singapore not more than 24 hours before disembarking the ship.
(c) MPA will facilitate COVID-19 pre-departure testing for sign-off crew in Singapore in accordance with the prevailing national policy. Ship Owners/managers/agents will bear the cost of the COVID-19 tests of their crew, where applicable. Please refer to Information for COVID-19 PreDeparture Testing for Sign-off Crew (link) for more information.
(d) Crew subjected to serology test shall remain onboard until production of a negative COVID-19 test result.
STAY AT HOLDING FACILITIES
Sign-on and sign-off crew may stay at designated holding facilities for up to 72 hours.
GENERAL
Ship owners/managers/agents must apply for crew change in Singapore by filling up the online form at www.mpa.gov.sg/web/portal/home/port-ofsingapore/operations/crew-change.
MPA urges ship owners/managers/agents to submit applications at least 14 days before the planned crew change, especially if the application includes sign-on crew. For foreign-flagged ships, crew change will be considered if the ship meets all prevailing requirements, and is in Singapore for cargo operations, bunkering and/or other marine services.
For crew changes to take place safely, MPA continues to expect all owners, agents, ships and individuals to ensure that the COVID-19 preventive measures are followed strictly. Any breach will be taken seriously.
Any queries relating to this circular should be directed to crew_change@mpa.gov.sg.
This circular supersedes Port Marine Circular No. 38 of 2020.
(For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Singapore, contact GAC Singapore at singapore@gac.com)
Source: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Port Marine Circular No.42 of 2020 dated 9 November 2020
Tropical Storm Ulysses
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Philippines
A Tropical Cyclone Warning was issued in the Philippines related to Tropical Storm Ulysses at 05:00am local time today (10 November).
In anticipation of the onset of strong breeze to near gale conditions, Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) #1 is now in effect over more localities in CALABARZON, Bicol Region, and Eastern Visayas. More areas in these regions will be placed under TCWS #1 in the next bulletin. TCWS #2 may be hoisted in some areas of Bicol Region as early as tonight. Based on the intensity forecast, the highest wind signal to be hoisted during the passage of Ulysses will be TCWS #3.
The tail-end of a cold front (shear line) will bring light to moderate with at times heavy rains over Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, and Apayao. Light to moderate with at times heavy rains will also be experienced over Aurora, Quezon, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, and Davao Region. Moderate to heavy rains associated with the rainbands of Ulysses will begin affecting Bicol Region and portions of Eastern Visayas tomorrow.
In the next 24 hours, rough to very rough seas (2.5 to 5.0 m) will be experienced over the entire seaboards of Northern Luzon and the seaboards of Kalayaan Islands due to the surge of the Northeast Monsoon. Ulysses will also bring rough to very rough seas (2.5 to 4.5) over the seaboards of areas under TCWS, Aurora, and northern Quezon (including the northern and eastern coastal waters of Polillo Islands) and the eastern seaboard of Eastern Samar (that are not under TCWS).
Moderate to rough seas will be experienced over the western seaboards of Central and Southern Luzon and the eastern seaboard of Mindanao.
On the forecast track, Uysses will move generally northwestward today, then turn more westward tomorrow. It is more likely to make landfall over Quezon on Thursday morning (12 November), with a close approach of Catanduanes and Camarines Norte tomorrow afternoon and evening, respectively. However, the slight shift in the orientation of the track forecast shows an increasing likelihood of landfall over Bicol Region tomorrow afternoon or evening.
Ulysses is forecast to intensity into a severe tropical storm tonight and may reach typhoon category by tomorrow morning, reaching peak intensity (140-155 km/h) tomorrow afternoon or evening. Landfall at or near peak intensity is highly likely.
For information about operations in the Philippines, contact GAC Philippines at philippines@gac.com
Attacks on ships
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Singapore Straits, Singapore
Armed pirates attacked three ships in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait within the span of six hours between Sunday night and Monday morning (8-9 November).
Ship equipment was stolen from one ship, and a lifebuoy from another. Nothing was taken from the third ship. There was no confrontation between the perpetrators and the crew.
As none of the perpetrators has been arrested, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) has urged vigilance, warning that the pirates might strike again.
These latest armed incidents take the total number of such attacks in the Singapore Straits this year to 31 so far.
For information about operations in Singapore, contact GAC Singapore at singapore@gac.com
Notification of Industrial Action
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Australia
The following notices of protected industrial action involving members of the MUA employed by Svitzer Australia have been served:
ADELAIDE AND PORT PIRIE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Stoppage of work for 24 hours duration commencing at 12:01 am on Friday 13 November 2020.
SYDNEY (PORT JACKSON & PORT BOTANY)
Bans on captive shifts from12:01 am on Friday 13 November 2020 through to 11:59 pm on Friday 13 November 2020.
GEELONG & MELBOURNE
Stoppage of work for 4 hours duration commencing at 8:00 am on Friday 13 November 2020.
BRISBANE
Stoppage of work for 4 hours duration commencing at 5:00 am on Friday 13 November 2020.
PORT KEMBLA
Stoppage of work for 4 hours duration commencing at 10:00 am on Friday 13 November 2020.
For information about operations in Australia, contact GAC Australia at shipping.australia@gac.com
COVID-19 test requirement
Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Norway
Guidelines from the Norwegian authorities state that persons from so-called “red” countries (defined with a certain level of infection in their population) must present a negative C-19 test taken less than 72 hours before entering the country. The valid languages for the test results are Norwegian, English, German, Swedish, Danish or French.
Persons residing in Norway with a residence permit or right of residence in Norway, or who regularly come to Norway from Sweden or Finland to work or study are exempted from this requirement.
Other important exceptions include seafarers and key workers urgently attending a vessel, namely:
– Persons in transit, including transport from an airport to a port to embark a vessel.
– Persons who carry out freight and passenger transport as paid work (seafarers), or who are on their way to or from such an assignment.
– Persons with a valid Seafarer’s ID (only when used for the purpose as a seafarer).
– Service personnel and surveyors that are critical and urgent for maintenance and operation of a vessel, whose attendance/service cannot be postponed until they have a valid test, or whose tasks cannot be carried out by a person in Norway. Such individuals without a Seafarer’s ID should carry a statement from their employer or principal stating the nature and urgency of their visit and type of work, and that a C-19 test could not be carried out in time within the 72 hours limit.
For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Norway, contact GAC Norway at norway@gac.com
