Technical Circular No: 78/2020
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Reference is made to our Technical Circular No. 064/2020 dated 24th April 2020 regarding DGS Order No.12 of 2020 on Standard Operating Procedures / Protocols (SOP) for sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers at Indian ports.
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The Directorate vide Addendum No. 1 to DGS Order No. 12 of 2020 has now prescribed additional Standard Operating Procedures / Protocols (SOP) for controlled crew change of Indian seafarers at Indian port anchorages within the port limits as detailed below;
A. For Sign-on:
a. Follow the sign-on procedures as laid down for signing-on crew in DGS Order 12 of 2020.
b. Crew change is to be undertaken in fair weather, good visibility and against favourable weather forecast.
c. Risk Assessment (RA) for every intended crew change at the anchorage to be carried out by the vessel and is to be carried out with all risks being minimized with all necessary safe guards listed in the RA are available and put in place.
d. Industry best practices for crew change at anchorage and prudent seamanship is to be complied with at all times.
e. Necessary permissions obtained from port for crew change and Covid-19 Negative test reports carried out for on-signers to proceed towards the designated boat jetty for transfer onto vessel at anchorage.
f. On-signing Seafarers to wear PPE (masks, gloves) and to maintain the social distancing requirements as per Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Govt. of India guidelines.
g. On-signing Seafarers to maintain safe distance with the crew of the boat / tug taking them to anchorage and from each other.
h. Gangway and the combination ladders are to be sanitized as required before crew change commences. Each crew to wear gloves with good grip.
i. The boarding and disembarking of the seafarer may be done in suitable weather conditions and after giving a good lee for the transfer and preferably during day light hours.
j. Seafarers to wear inflatable lifejackets while on boat / tug and while boarding the vessel.
k. One seafarer at a time is to be allowed to use pilot ladder at a time and boat / tug should move away from beneath whilst seafarer is boarding the vessel.
l. After boarding the vessel, the seafarer should remain in the designated visitor area till their temperatures and other vitals are collected by on board staff.
m. Handing over / mingling of signing-on crew not to be allowed with off-signing crew.
B. For Sign-off:a. Follow the sign-off procedures as laid down for signing-off crew in DGS Order 12 of 2020.
b. Crew change is to be undertaken in fair weather, good visibility and against favourable weather forecast.
c. Risk Assessment (RA) for every intended crew change at the anchorage to be carried out by the vessel and is to be carried out with all risks being minimized with all necessary safe guards listed in the RA are available and put in place.
d. Industry best practices for crew change at anchorage and prudent seamanship is to be complied at all times.
e. The master of a vessel, before arrival at its port of call in India, is to ascertain the state of health of each person on board the vessel and submit the Maritime Declaration of Health to the concerned health authorities of the port and to the port authorities. In addition, the information required by the local health authorities of the port like temperature chart, individual health declaration etc. are also to be provided by the master as per the directives of the local health authorities of the port.
f. Necessary permissions to be obtained from port for crew change.
g. Seafarers to wear PPE (masks, gloves) and to maintain the social distancing requirements as per Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Govt. of India guidelines with the boat handling crew at all times.
h. Gangway and the combination ladders are to be sanitized as required after every crew change.
i. The boarding and disembarking of the crew may be done in suitable weather conditions and after giving a good lee for the transfer and preferably during day light hours.
j. Seafarers to wear inflatable lifejackets while on boat / tug and while disembarking the vessel.
k. One seafarer at a time is to be allowed on the ladder for disembarking at a time.
l. The off-signers disembarkation and on-signers embarkation should not be happening simultaneously. Ideally the off-signers are to be standing and waiting on the other side of vessel for disembarkation avoiding any contact with on-signers.
m. After disembarking the vessel, the seafarer should remain in the designated visitor area till their temperatures and other vitals are collected by on board staff.
n. Handing over / mingling of signing-on crew not to be allowed with off-signing crew.
o. While on board the boat / tug, the sign-off crew to be kept separate from the boat / tug crew and not be allowed to mingle with each other.
p. Upon arrival at boat jetty / berth the procedure of sign-off to be followed as prescribed in DGS Order 12 of 2020.
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Ship owners/ operators, Masters and RPSL are advised to be guided by above while carrying out Sign-on and Sign-off of Indian Seafarers at Indian port anchorages within the port limits.
Enclosure:
Disclaimer:
This Technical Circular and the material contained in it is provided only for the purpose of supplying current information to the reader and not as an advice to be relied upon by any person. While we have taken utmost care to be as factual as possible, readers/ users are advised to verify the exact text and content of the Regulation from the original source/ issuing Authority.