The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has just issued Port Marine Circular (PMC) 30 of 2021 on the Enhancements to Crew Change for Cargo Ships in the Port of Singapore.
PMC 30 supersedes PMC 14 of 2021.
Essentially, the enhancements are:
• Sign-on crew are now required to serve 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) in the crew’s originating country/region instead of 21 days
• Sign-on crew to obtain a negative PCR test result not more than 48 hours instead of 72 hours, before his/her departure,
• New requirement: There is an additional requirement for sign-on crew to be certified fit-to-travel and have a negative result from an ART (Antigen Rapid Test) certified by a doctor at his/her originating country not more than 24 hours prior to departure for Singapore.
This will be applicable for crew departing his/her country/region on or after 26 July 2021.
If the ART result is positive, the crew should take another PCR test to confirm if he/she is infected with COVID-19.
Source: The Standard Club