The Singapore Crew Change Work Group (SGCC WG) has updated the Singapore Crew Change Guidebook (SGCCG).
With effect from 01 September 2020, MPA will consider the following circumstances for crew change applications:
- Crew whose employment contract has expired;
- Additional crew on board whose sign-off would not affect the safe manning of the ship;
- Change of crew due to the sale or purchase of ship;
- Personnel who are not part of the ship’s crew such as superintendents and service engineers;
- Compassionate grounds e.g. death of family member;
- The crew is no longer medically fit to work onboard the ship.
Applications for crew change must be made at least 14 days in advance in line with the requirements of PMCs 26, 27 & 36 of 2020.
Sign-on crew
- Meet-and-greet services are compulsory for sign-off crew at Changi Airport. Please read the mitigating factors and processes for sign-on crew.
- Crew from specific low risk countries/regions will either no longer be required to serve the SHN or serve a shorter SHN of 7 days in the originating country/region prior to departure for Singapore
- In addition to the SHN requirement, if a crew was previously diagnosed with COVID-19, the date of first ever positive PCR test must be more than 21 days ago from date of departure from the home country to Singapore.
- During the entire crew change process, especially during the journey to join the ship in Singapore, crew may be in groups of not more than five (5) persons, but must remain in the same group, and there must be no interactions between the groups.
- The crew shall only arrive Singapore to join his/her ship not more than 48 hours before the ship’s departure from Singapore.
Sign-off crew
- Tele-Medicine consultations are approved for issuance of the off-signing crews Fit-to-travel certificate. These must be completed by Singapore fully registered doctors. Details of the telemedicine requirements are found in PMC 27 of 2020.
- Meet-and-greet services are compulsory for sign-off crew at Changi Airport. Please read the mitigating factors and processes for sign-off crew.
Foreign & Singapore flagged vessels
- For foreign flagged vessels, crew change will only be permitted for vessels meeting the requirements of PMC 26/2020 & PMC 27/2020, and that are in Singapore for cargo operations, bunkering and/or other marine services;
- The Maritime Port & Authority of Singapore (MPA) will accord priority to all Singapore-flagged vessels, and will all Singapore registered ships to carry out crew change in the Port of Singapore, regardless of their purpose of call, provided they meet all prevailing requirements.