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HOT PORT NEWS from GAC

Technical issues at terminal resolved
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Montoir, France

Operator Elengy has advised that the technical problems reported in early May at the Montoir installations have now been resolved. The terminal will be fully operational from this evening (1 June).

(For information about operations in France, contact the GAC Dubai Hub Agency Centre at [email protected])

Source: Sea-Invest Shipping Agency – GAC network agent

New travel restrictions announced
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Turkey

The Turkish Authorities have announced the following new travel restrictions coming into force from today (1 June).

Passengers arriving / who have been in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka in the past 14 days must have negative PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point and subject to quarantine for 14 days in Turkey.

Passengers arriving / who have been in UK, Iran, Egypt and Singapore in the past 14 days must have negative PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point.

For passengers arriving from countries not listed above but who have not been in these countries in the last 14 days, if they present an official vaccine certificate or prove that they have been infected with COVID-19 infected in the past 6 months, they will be exempt from negative PCR test and quarantine requirement. If they fail to provide/prove the same, they must have negative PCR test taken at most 72 hours or a Rapid Antigen test taken at most 48 hours before departure from their first embarkation point.

Seafarers are identified as keyworkers and are exempted from PCR test and quarantine requirements.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Turkey, contact GAC Turkey at [email protected]

Point-to-point transportation & COVID-19 tests for signing-on sea crew
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s Department of Health has issued a reminder about proper arrangements for point-to-point transportation and COVID-19 tests for signing-on sea crew.

Guidelines must be followed during point-to-point transportation from Hong Kong International Airport to the dock of their vessel. This explicitly means from the airport direct to the vessel, not to the Government dockyard or container terminal.

It has been noted that it is common for shipping agents/companies to arrange for signing-on crew to take additional COVID-19 tests not requested by the health authorities, to produce certificates of a negative result to meet entry requirements for the next port of call.

If there is a need for any additional tests prior to the departure of the vessel, albeit not as a requirement of the health authorities in Hong, the following requirements must be strictly followed during the collection of the specimen:

  • Specimen should not be collected during the course of point-to-point transportation; and
  • Specimen should only be collected after boarding the vessel.

Shipping companies failing to comply with the guidelines or requirements for specimen collection will be denied crew change applications for one month by the Marine Department.

The Government will conduct routine surprise checks at the boarding points at the airport, dockyard and container terminals to monitor compliance and collect evidence for follow-action.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Hong Kong, contact GAC Hong Kong at [email protected]

Inbound travel restrictions partially lifted
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Sri Lanka

The Government of Sri Lanka has decided to lift the temporary restriction imposed on in-bound travelers effective today (1 June). However, the restriction for passengers who have been to India within 14 days will continue until further notice.

Exclusive charter flights can be arranged as per requirement. Foreign crew air arrival/ departure movements via charter flights is currently strictly limited to MRIA. Seat cancellation within 48 hours will be charged at the rate of USD 500 per seafarer.

The Private Public Partnership (PPP) facilitating crew changes in Sri Lanka require at least 96 hours to process requests and make arrangements for crew changes.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Sri Lanka, contact GAC [email protected]

Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations implementation further extended
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, India

The effective date for implementation Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2021 has been extended from 31 May to 30 June.

For information about operations in India, contact GAC India at [email protected]

Reporting of maritime accidents
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, United Arab Emirates

The Federal Maritime Authority ( FMA ) of United Arab Emirates represented by Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has recently cancelled the navigation license of one of the bunker supply vessels operating in UAE due to its failure to report to FMA and the competent authorities about oil pollution incident that occurred while she was carrying out its bunkering operation in UAE waters.

Accordingly, FMA wishes to remind all Port Authorities, Owners, Operators, Captains and Agents of National and Foreign flagged vessels operating in UAE waters on the importance of swiftly reporting to FMA and the competent authorities on the occurrence of marine accidents, including those related to the marine environmental pollution, in order to avoid imposing of strict actions against the ship, its owners and its agents under the penalty of law, including cancellation of the navigation license in accordance to the Article 16 of Resolution No.33 of 2016 related to the investigation of maritime accidents.

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

Source: UAE Ministry of Infrastructure & Energy Circular No. (06) 2021 dated 30 May 2021

Air draft restriction
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Cannakkale Strait, Turkey

The air draft restriction in the Canakkale Strait (Dardanelles) has been officially announced at 70m from today (1 June) due to the ongoing construction of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge, which is now reaching its final stage.

Any vessel with an air draft of 70m or more is NOT allowed to transit in Canakkale Strait according to the Maritime Traffic Regulation in Turkish Straits.

For information about operations in the Turkish Straits, contact GAC Istanbul at [email protected]

Extension of travel restrictions
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Philippines

Please note the following guidelines on the conduct of crew changes:

Ships coming from or have rendered port call(s) in the following countries within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines are temporarily restricted from disembarking foreign seafarers until 2359 hours of 15 June 2021
1. Oman
2. United Arab Emirates
3. Pakistan
4. Bangladesh
5. Nepal
6. Sri Lanka
7. India

Filipino and foreign seafarers with no immigration admission in above countries within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines shall be allowed to disembark subject to existing health and safety protocols of the established One-Shop Shops (OSS) for Seafarers.

Filipino seafarers coming from the foregoing countries shall not be prohibited from entering the Philippines but shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, not withstanding a negative RT-PCR result.

Specimen from travelers coming from the above countries that turn positive upon testing in the Philippines shall undergo Whole Genome Sequencing. All close contacts must undergo facility-based quarantine for fourteen (14) days, and contact tracing shall expand up to the third-generation contacts.

(For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in the Philippines, contact GAC Philippines at [email protected])

Source: Philippines Department of Transportation Notice dated 1 June 2021

Suspension of crew changes for specific nationalities
Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Mina Saqr, United Arab Emirates

According to verbal advice from Mina Saqr Immigration, crew changes (signing-on and -off) have been suspended for the following nationalities until further notice:
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Sri Lankan

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations at Mina Saqr, contact GAC Ras Al Khaimah at [email protected]

Source: GAC

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