According to the Director General of Health Services, foreign national seafarers/sea marshals should obtain approval from the Foreign Ministry to enter Sri Lanka and should be quarantined in an isolation centre.
Specifically, Sri Lankan seafarers/sea marshals who intend to board a vessel should be quarantined in an isolation centre.
On the other hand, Sri Lankan seafarer/sea marshals who do not intend to board a vessel but intend to enter the community should undergo quarantine in a quarantine hotel / government quarantine centre, but they are not permitted to enter the country through Sri Lanka Tourism pathway.
At the same time, all seafarer/sea marshal operations including quarantine measures of seafarers/sea marshals arriving via seaports should be done adhering to the provisions in standard operating procedures issued by the Ministry of Health.
Fully vaccinated Sri Lankan seafarers arriving via airports
Fully vaccinated Sri Lankan seafarers arriving via airports should undergo quarantine in an isolation centre (used to quarantine seafarers) / quarantine hotel / government quarantine centre/ safe & secure certified level one hotel until on arrival PCR testing is done and the negative PCR report is available.
No further quarantine is necessary for “fully vaccinated” seafarers if the on arrival PCR test report is negative.
After verifying the status of vaccination, the officer in charge of the isolation centre (used to quarantine seafarers)/ quarantine hotel / government quarantine centre should issue a “Discharge Document” and email the details to the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health.
All seafarers should immediately inform the area MOH by telephone or email, soon after their arrival to residence/ home.
Sri Lankan seafarers arriving via airports with a past history of COVID-19
Travellers with a past history of COVID-19 infection should have a valid document certifying COVID-19 illness (in English). The traveller should depart between the 28th to the 90th day from the date of positive COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT).
Such travellers should arrive after getting at least a single dose of Astra Zeneca/ Pfizer BioNTech/ Moderna/ Johnson & Johnson vaccine or any other single dose COVID-19 vaccine recommended for the general population to fully vaccinate them. This vaccine should be given during the period between two weeks after the positive NAAT and up to 14 days before departure.
If the above criteria is fulfilled, they should be quarantined until on arrival (Day One) PCR test report is available and no further quarantine is necessary if the on arrival (Day One) PCR test report is negative.
If the above criteria is not fulfilled, they should be quarantined and will be released with a negative PCR report done on Day Fourteen of arrival in Sri Lanka.
