The Philippines, which has emerged as a major hub of crew change for international vessels, has recently announced its move to ban crew change for foreign seafarer's vessels that have called at countries in the Indian sub-continent as well as some countries in the Middle East. 

It joins a growing list of territories that have restricted crew change for the specified crew — as India continues to battle a recent surge in coronavirus cases.

From May 15 to 31,  ship agents GAC said vessels that have called in India, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in the previous 14 days will not be allowed to disembark their international seafarers in the Philippines.

"Ships coming from or have rendered port call/s in the following countries within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines is temporarily restricted from disembarking their foreign seafarers, effective 0001H of 15 May 2021 until 2359 31 May 2021," the statement said.

It added that Filipino and foreign seafarers with no immigration admission in the above countries within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines shall be allowed to disembark subject to existing health and safety protocols of the established One-Shop Stops (OSS) for Seafarers.

"Filipino seafarers coming from the foregoing countries shall not be prohibited from entering the Philippines but shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, notwithstanding a negative RT-PCR result," GAC said.

Specimen from travelers coming from the above countries that turn positive upon testing in the Philippines shall undergo Whole Genome Sequencing and all close contacts must undergo facility-based quarantine for 14 days, and contact tracing shall expand up to the third-generation contacts.

It added that embarkation to ships bound to the above shall be subject to the existing exit protocols of the Philippines as well as entry protocols of the foregoing countries.

The Philippines is one of the world's largest suppliers of seafarers — which plays an important role in the supply of seafarers, the foundation of global logistics. China and Indonesia are the other top sources of seafarers occupying the world's ocean fleet.