Port Staff and Seafarer Measures on COVID-19

Port Staff and Seafarer Measures on COVID-19

The term seafarer describes all officers, assistant officers, trainees, assistants and auxiliary service personnel working on the vessel. On the other hand, port staff describes those who have been assigned for the administrative affairs, especially for loading, unloading and information processing of the vessels operating domestically and/or overseas.

These persons are in the high risk group of exposing themselves to Covid-19 and it is much more likely for them to infect the others.

That is why, some administrative and legal regulations are also brought for these persons as summarized below:

• Supply of respiratory mask, disinfectant gels, safety glasses, protective overalls, nitrile gloves to the seafarers and port staff for their personal cleaning and hygiene
• Informing the seafarers and the port staff on the outbreak of the Covid-19; how to protect themselves from being contaminated and the measures to be taken to prevent the outbreak and/or its increase
• The master and/or the health officer on board shall measure the daily fever of each personnel and shall keep this data on the relevant list every single day
• The seafarers are expected to take the below actions to prevent the outbreak of Covid-19:
• • Not to work onboard a vessel while having symptoms of fever or respiratory disease
  • To keep 180cm distance when interacting with sick persons and to wear protective respirator before interacting with any other person, to minimize as much possible any contact with others,
  • To wash hands as frequently as possible, if not possible, to use a hand disinfectant containing 60%-95% alcohol
  • Covering mouth and nose in case of sneezing and coughing
  • Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
• Number of the seafarers and port staff shall be minimized as much as possible to minimize the risk of spread,
• After the expiry of the 14 days of quarantine period for the vessel, a further14 days period of quarantine might be ordered on the seafarers of these vessels after the necessary health checks (Not mandatory but can be decided according to the results of the health check)
• Mandatory health checks shall be made for Turkish seafarers signing off the vessel. If the seafarer has symptoms of Covid-19, he shall be hospitalized in accordance with Covid-19 Guide. Seafarer not having any symptoms of Covid-19 shall, before being permitted to leave the vessel, sign the "Information, Consent and Home Monitoring Form on Covid-19". The seafarers that signed the consent form will be monitored by the City Health Directorate during the 14 days quarantine period.
• For the port staff abroad, if an imminent return is not possible, an extension shall be granted to their work permits for 3 months. If an imminent return is possible, a quarantine period of 14 days after the entry to the country under the monitoring of the City Health Directorate is mandatory and these 14 days can be considered as an administrative leave for the corresponding working days.
• The port staff in the country that are over the age of 60, pregnant women, breast-feeding, disabled and other members of the disadvantaged groups determined by the Ministry of Health to be deemed in administrative leave (those with immune problems, cancer patients, chronic respiratory patients, obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, organ transplants, chronic patients)
• Besides the abovementioned regulations, Turkish Strait pilots requires all personnel and crew to put on masks before the pilot's embarking on the vessel. The deck officers are also required to put on masks when transiting through the Istanbul Straits.
• As of 24 March 2020, any new application for seafarer certificates will not be accepted and all exams to be scheduled at a later stage.
• Advisory, but not mandatory, measures are also foreseen by the competent national and international authorities. Such advisory measures can also be summarized as follows:
• Encouragement of the use of disposable plastics to be disposed in washable bins,
• Isolation of Covid-19 patient in air-tight rooms having the ideal room temperature
• As the symptoms of Covid-19 is not definitive and can be mistaken with other diseases, a person suspecting of being infected can first consider taking an influenza test.