As of 12 October 2020, crew change requirements in Panama are subject to Executive Decree No. 1089 of 23 September 2020, the Panama Maritime Authority announced.
The Executive Decree No. 1089 of September 23, 2020 establishes:
Article 2. Any national, resident or foreign person who intends to enter the national territory, will present upon arrival in the country, the Certificate of Swab Test / PCR or negative antigen, with a maximum of 48 hours and may enter the country without the need to comply with mandatory isolation, in turn complying with all the biosecurity measures established by the Ministry of Health.
Article 3. Any national, resident or foreign person who does not carry the Swab / PCR Test Certificate or negative antigen upon arrival in the country, as indicated in Article 2 of this Executive Decree, will have the obligation to take a rapid test, prior to its registration at the airport, which will be charged at the cost of the traveler.
Depending on the result of the test, the following measures will be applied to the traveler:
- If the rapid test result is negative, he/she is exempt from mandatory isolation.
- If the swab / PCR or antigen test is positive, the person will go to mandatory isolation in a hospital hotel designated by the Ministry of Health. On the 7th day, he/she will have an antigen test performed. If the result is positive, the person must complete the 14 days isolation and if the result is negative, isolation ends.
Therefore, all shipping agencies, shipping lines or legal representatives shall comply with the new measures established by the Ministry of Health from the date indicated and until further notice.
In the same way, they will continue to provide our Authority with the requirements of the Modalities with respect to the latest edition of the Instructions for the Change of Crew. The shipping agencies will be responsible for complying with the immigration and logistics processes with the airlines.
