Coronavirus: Floating facilities turned into centre to house seafarers

Three floating facilities at the Tanjong Pagar Terminal, that previously used to house foreign workers, will be converted into a centre to house seafarers, such as crew in between ship transfers, from Tuesday.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said yesterday that the new crew facilitation centre, which is equipped with an onsite medical centre, along with testing and holding facilities, will allow for more crew changes to take place locally, while ensuring that the ships and local communities are kept safe.

The centre is dedicated to house crew for up to 48 hours before they board their ships, in case their ship and flight schedules are mismatched and they need a place to stay.

Crew who are due to depart Singapore will be housed in existing designated holding facilities at Seacare Hotel and the Posh Bawean accommodation vessel, with the same 48-hour restriction.

Said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung: "As shipping is a global business, we hope that more ports and stakeholders will join us in such initiatives so that seafarers can continue their work and keep the supply lines of the world open."

To tackle challenges faced by those in the shipping industry, crew-changing procedures have been streamlined - for example, the duration of stay-home notices (SHN) has been halved to seven days for crew members coming into Singapore from identified low-risk countries, provided they have been staying there for at least 14 days.

Those who have stayed in Brunei and New Zealand for at least 14 days will no longer be required to serve SHN before their arrival here.

However, crew members must first undergo a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction test at approved testing facilities before their departure for Singapore.

To further ensure safe port operations locally, MPA also stipulated that ships needing, for example, repairs and inspection must inform the Port Master at least three days before the ship's arrival as shore personnel will be needed to board the ship.

As Singapore remains an important global hub port, the MPA, Singapore Shipping Association, Singapore Maritime Officers' Union, and Singapore Organisation of Seamen will establish a $1 million fund to propagate best practices for safe crew changes, said MPA in a media statement. The fund, known as the Singapore Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience (SG-Star) Fund, will be used to collaborate with stakeholders in seafaring nations to come up with concrete solutions for safe crew changes.

Ms Mary Liew, general secretary of the Singapore Maritime Officers' Union, said the effort "will assist more seafarers to be reunited with their families back home and at the same time, allow fresh crew to sign on safely so as to provide for their families".

Though more accommodation for seafarers will be a boon for those in the shipping industry, shipping agents still hope for longer stays at these holding facilities, and more affordable accommodation for their crew members.

Captain Philip Tay, chief executive officer of Apex Ship Management, felt that the crew members' length of stay should be extended beyond 48 hours, which will allow for more leeway in coordinating and arranging crew changes.