SINGAPORE - Workers boarding and leaving ships in Singapore's port must check in and out using SafeEntry @ Sea to comply with new safety requirements from Friday (Jan 15).

This will be required at all departure points and waterfront facilities, which refer to any pier, wharf, dock, terminal, or marina.

Workers must provide details of their company and the vessel to be boarded, and keep to the safe management measures on board the ship, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Thursday.

SafeEntry is the national digital check-in system for contact-tracing, which is being extended to the maritime sector.

Workers who are getting routinely tested every week according to a roster must show a valid negative Covid-19 test result taken within the last seven days of boarding a vessel.

Workers who are not on rostered routine testing must show a valid negative Covid-19 test result taken within 72 hours of boarding the vessel.

After disembarking, they must take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test in five or seven days, and another test on the 11th day. They or their employer will bear the costs of the tests.

Workers with symptoms such as coughing, sneezing and breathlessness will not be allowed on board ships.

The requirements apply to personnel boarding vessels, including harbour craft and pleasure craft, at departure points, including gazetted public landing steps (that is, Marina South Pier and West Coast Pier), cargo, oil or cruise terminals, wharves, marinas and shipyards.

Owners or managers of the waterfront facilities must conduct stringent checks and not allow any worker from going on board if he or she does not meet the requirements.

Companies and individuals that do not follow the rules will have actions taken against them, said MPA.

Singaporeans and long-term residents who need to board vessels for work, including marine pilots as well as seafarers, have been prioritised for Covid-19 vaccination. Vaccination for these personnel started on Wednesday.

Rostered routine testing for shore-based personnel who go onboard vessels regularly has also been increased from every 14 days to every seven days, said MPA.

Between Jan 2 and Jan 8, some 27,000 workers were tested for the virus in a one-time sweep. All tested negative except for one person, who has been assessed to have recovered from Covid-19 infection.

There were two Covid-19 cases in the maritime sector recently - a permanent resident working as a marine surveyor, and a Singaporean harbour pilot.