In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, China’s Ministry of Transportation announced that suspends the crew changes for all the vessels of two shipmanagers, following a coronavirus outbreak onboard ships managed by the companies.
Namely, Chinese officials reported that 15 seafarers onboard the 77,000 dwt bulk carrier Omicron Sky, were tested COVID-19 positive.
At the same time, during port inspections, 21 crewmembers onboard the 2011-built panamax bulker Asia Spring, were also infected by the virus.
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Following the situation, China decided to ban all crew changeovers from the Omicron Ship Management and Dia Yuan International Shipping for 30 days.
Overall, Chinese authorities recently gave the green light for crew change, for 16 stranded Indian sailors on board a cargo vessel that has been on an anchorage near the Chinese port of Caofeidian since September.