A Comprehensive Guidebook

SMOU formulated a survey on 22 April to provide the workgroup with a rough indication of the number of seafarers due to sign off in Singapore. SMOU conducted the survey with companies under its Collective Bargaining Agreement and later expanded it to include a broader sample of SSA and IMEC members.  The survey provided concrete statistics that the SGCCWG used as a basis for discussions with agencies like the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to arrange flights for crew changes.

To gain consensus of the other nations that might be involved in repatriation and sending of seafarer relievers to and from Singapore, tripartite partners drew up a comprehensive checklist of processes to facilitate crew changes in the midst of the pandemic. The step-by-step flow chart featuring various scenarios of seafarer signing-off from a vessel or signing-on to a vessel is detailed in the guidebook. Mandatory stay-home notice periods for relievers and assessment of signing-off crew by a seaport doctor before disembarkation are some examples of added precautions to ensure that crew change is done with minimal risk of COVID-19 transmission. The SGCCWG had to consider all angles and scenarios in their discussions so as to prevent any aggravation of COVID-19 cases in nations facilitating crew change.

A Model Framework for Crew Change