Singapore has chartered a fourth floating accommodation vessel to house foreign workers displaced by the coronavirus.
The Lion City has brought in Eastern Navigation’s 238-person ENA Habitat (built 2015), taking total capacity to 1,700 berths.
Singapore minister of transport Khaw Boon Wan confirmed the vessel's arrival in a Facebook post. Financial terms were not disclosed.
There are now four floating accommodation units berthed at the Tanjong Pagar Terminal, including the Floatel Triumph, Bibby Renaissance and the Bibby Progress.
“There are now about 360 residents there, but we will need the buffer soon to provide a safe, less-crowded accommodation for workers, in line with MOH [Ministry of Health] and MOM [Ministry of Manpower] requirements,” Khaw said.
“At these floating accommodations, we do not house sick workers as they are cared for in hospitals or community care facilities.
“We take in those who are healthy or have recovered from Covid-19 infections and are deemed by doctors to be no longer infectious.
“Most of them are non-essential workers currently on stay-home order; so they do not move in and out of the accommodation.”
However, Khaw did say the ENA Habitat had been reserved for essential workers needed to ensure the continued operation of Changi Airport.
“We created a ‘bubble’ — a sterile environment — so that these workers do not interact with workers from other sites,” he said.
“They stay aboard the ENA Habitat and are bussed to Changi for work and then back to the vessel when their shifts end.”
Khaw said he wanted to record his thanks to the companies and numerous government agencies for “working tirelessly" to get the floating accommodations delivered, re-purposed, disinfected, and operated with maximum safety and infection control standar — and in an incredibly short time.
"We owe a lot to them," he said.
