Technical Circular No: 022/2022
Download PDF1. In view of the events in Ukraine and taking into account the views of the Maritime Transport Workers Trade Union of Ukraine (MTWTU – ITF affiliate) and guidance of Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Tokyo MoU, the Panama Maritime Authority vide MMN-04-2022 has informed regarding flexible and pragmatic approach of the Administration on the issue of extending periods of service of seafarers on board ships in these circumstances.
2. Administration requires that the port States guidelines to deal with the current situation of the Ukrainian seafarers should be taken into account by the shipowners and operators in respect of the extensions of seafarers' employment agreements (SEA) for seafarers who wish to remain on board and in the cases of seafarers who are willing to return home at the end of their employment contract, for which the shipowners must provide tickets to friendly neighboring countries in the region with enough money for land transport where flights are not available.
3. In case the maximum duration of the seafarers' employment contract (SEA) has expired and an authorization is required for the extension by the flag State, a request must be sent to the email seaextension@amp.gob.pa. This will only be authorized on a case-by-case basis to address the emergency situation that does not allow seafarers to return home and only with the consent of the seafarer.
4. Further, the Administration has reiterated that any extension granted would require an addendum to the seafarer employment agreement on the same terms and conditions as the underlying contract and must be agreed to by both parties.
5. With regards to extension of endorsements of certificates for Ukrainian seafarers, request for extension is to be made by submitting following to the Administration:
a. Email requesting the extension of the Certificate, including the particulars of the vessel, crew name and position on board.
b. For the Extension of Certificates issued under regulation I/10, to submit the Authorization letter of extension of the issuance Country and copy of the Home Country License. The extension will be given according the letter of authorization of the Issuance´s Country CoC´s or CoP´s.
c. Crew List.
d. Copy of the Registry certificate.
6. Owners/ operators and masters of Panama flagged vessels are advised to be guided by above.
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.