Philippines have banned vessels coming from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates and Oman from disembarking their international seafarers as stated by ship agents GAC.
Namely, from 15 May 2021 until 31 May 2021, ships coming from or have rendered port call/s in the following countries within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines are temporarily restricted from disembarking their foreign seafarers:
- Oman
- United Arab Emirates
- Pakistan
- Bangladesh
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
- India
Filipino and foreign seafarers with no immigration admission in the above countries within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines shall be allowed to disembark subject to existing health and safety protocols of the established One-Shop Stops (OSS) for Seafarers.
…GAC noted.
As further explained, Filipino seafarers coming from the foregoing countries shall not be prohibited from entering the Philippines but shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, not withstanding a negative RT-PCR result.
Specimen from travelers coming from the above countries that turn positive upon testing in the Philippines shall undergo Whole Genome Sequencing. All close contacts must undergo facility-based quarantine for 14 days, and contact tracing shall expand up to the third-generation contacts.
Concluding, embarkation to ships bound to the above shall be subject to the existing exit protocols of the Philippines as well as entry protocols of the foregoing countries.
