MPA: coronavirus circular for Singapore registered ships

In light of the ongoing coronavirus situation, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) issued the “Shipping Circular No. 03 of 2020“, concerning all the ship owners, managers, operators, masters of Singapore registered ships (SRS), organisations, agents and the general shipping community.

In fact, the circular includes non-exhaustive list of scenarios and provide instructions for SRS owners and managers who face challenging issues due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In case that:

1. SRS owners and managers unable to repatriate seafarers who have completed the employment duration as stipulated in the seafarers’ SEA in accordance with Section 23 of the MLC Act may submit a request to MPA for extension of the sea service period. Documents to be submitted as follows: a)Employment details of the affected seafarers b)Confirmation of consent by the affected seafarers.
2. The extension of contractual period of the seafarers should be reflected on the corresponding SEA of the affected seafarers. Ship owners and managers should also ensure that the notification of crew list to MPA, in accordance with Section 15 of the MLC Act, is carried out.
3. Consideration will be given to allow seafarers who hold foreign issued Certificates of Competencies (COC) to continue serving onboard SRS, if they are unable to revalidate their COC before the expiry date due to the COVID-19 outbreak. SRS owners and managers may submit such request in-writing to MPA, accompanied with a confirmation of continued validity from the issuing authority of the seafarer’s COC.
4. MPA will issue a flag administration confirmation letter for the seafarer to continue serving onboard SRS. No fees will be charged for this endorsement.
5. For Singapore COC holders, MPA will issue a letter to extend validity of the COC of the holders who may not be able to disembark due to the captioned grounds, similarly without fees.
6. Consideration will also be given to the extension of mandatory statutory surveys, inspections or audits. Application for extension of surveys/inspections/audits or validity of statutory certificates may be submitted to MPA, accompanied by recommendation from the recognised organisation (RO) that issued the relevant certificate on behalf of MPA.
7. We advise SRS owners and managers to submit such application before the due date of the surveys/audits or expiry date of the statutory certificate in order to avoid Port State Control issues.

All application for dispensations as mentioned in paragraphs 4, 6 and 9 may be submitted to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

For more information on the coronavirus outbreak, see also:

IMO, WHO issue joint statement on coronavirus Outbreak

China bans wild animals’ consumption amid coronavirus