The Australian Prime Minister announced the implementation of improved restrictions by midnight of March 15, for those entering from any overseas destination.
Specifically, the restrictions include:
- Mandatory self isolation period of 14 days, regardless of the destination a person has come from;
- Specific arrangements for people transmitting through to the Pacific Islands;
- 30 day ban on cruise ships who have visited foreigh ports before arriving in Australia.
In addition, a conference was also called to discuss the potential impact of these restrictions on the maritime industry. In summary the main points were:
- Australia experienced the impact of the pandemic in its cruise sector, with the Australian Border Force (ABF) having the power to exclude international vessels from entry. An exemption would remain to facilitate the disembarkation of Australia citizens;
- For commercial maritime vessels, the 14 day quarantine period would apply for vessels arriving from any international port (and not just the selected high risk countries previously identified);
- ABF and Department of Health will produce updated maritime industry fact sheets;
- ABF is investigating how best to facilitate crew transfers whilst vessels are at Australian ports, especially where crew are arriving from air. This may include confucting advanced screening measures at Sydney Airport before taking a domestic flight to join a vessel within 14 days.
Recently, AMSA reported that travel restrictions and quarantine measures which have been implemented worldwide to help limit the spread of COVID-19 are beginning to impact seafarer working conditions.
