The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has said that crews can be exchanged at its ports in order to complete sale-and-purchase deals.
S&P has now been listed by the MPA among a number of newly agreed “special circumstances” under which crew exchange will be allowed in the island state.
The others include the conclusion of crew employment contracts, compassionate and medical grounds.
The move is expected to help facilitate S&P deals in Asia as Singapore is a key vessel inspection and handover point for ships in the secondhand market.
Since the onset of global lockdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic, the problem of crew exchange has been a major barrier to concluding S&P deals. Vietnam and Myanmar are the only other options available to owners seeking to complete S&P deals in Asia, brokers said.
In some cases, buyers have been forced to consider taking on the seller's crew in order to take delivery of a ship.
New protocols
Under the new MPA protocols, crew members signing off a ship that is to be handed over to a buyer will have to verify that they have not been ashore in the last 14 days and are fit to travel. Supporting documentation of the S&P deal will also have to be provided.
The MPA also requires 14-day advanced notification of any planned crew exchange.
Although sellers may now be able to relieve crew on ships, the problem of how to get the crew back to their homeland still remains.
Strict international travel restrictions continue in Singapore, even though it is slowly coming out of lockdown and has had a comparatively small number of Covid-19 infections in the country.
Some crew travel companies are, however, arranging special charter flights out of the country.
