India's Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has said it will allow foreign nationals to leave and join ships at the country’s ports.

The government agency said that crew changes will have to be conducted in line with standard operating procedures which India first outlined in April for Indian nationals.

Seafarers will have to undergo testing to prove they are free of Covid-19 infection prior to arriving in India.

Foreign national seafarers will also be allowed to use India as a transit point, as well as fly using international chartered and scheduled flights.

The move comes in response to calls from the International Transport Workers' Federation and national governments that the travel and quarantine restrictions to stop the spread of coronavirus should not be strictly applied to seafarers.

India did not take part in a recent international government minister level meeting on relieving the crew crisis but it has said it is committed to helping crew exchange take place.

The Hindu reported that a Mediterranean Shipping Co containership will be the first to carry out a crew change involving foreign seafarers.

“This move will not only help India in meeting its international obligation to facilitate movement of ship crew, but would also create job opportunities for Indian seafarers awaiting to join a vessel,” DGS joint secretary Satinder Pal Singh said in the newspaper.

According to the DGS figures, since restrictions on Indian national crew exchanges were relaxed in April, 10,679 Indian seafarers have joined ships and 18,376 have returned home.

Earlier this month, the Philippines, shipping’s largest labour supply country, said it would open up travel corridors to allow crew exchange.

Last week, Dubai declared its ports are open for crew exchange.

However, shipping’s crewing crisis, which has trapped an estimated 300,000 crew members on ships working beyond their contracted period, is far from over. Several important regions remain closed to crew exchange including China, South America and Africa.

Seafarers are also unable to acquire visas to join ships and relieve crew because many of the embassies in the main labour supply countries remain closed.