Due to concerns about the Omicron variant of Covid-19, Singapore has halted crew changes and vaccinations for seafarers who have recently traveled to six southern African countries.

The countries are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) tagged the move as a “precautionary measure” in announcing the suspension of crew change and vaccination for seafarers who have travel history to the said African countries in the previous 14 days prior to arriving in Singapore.

"This includes sign-on crew travelling to  Singapore by flight as well as sign-off crew from vessels that have called at  Botswana,  Eswatini,  Lesotho,  Mozambique,  Namibia,  South  Africa  and Zimbabwe," the circular said, adding that the mandate also includes "sign-on  crew  transiting  Botswana,  Eswatini,  Lesotho,  Mozambique,  Namibia,  South  Africa  and  Zimbabwe  on  their  connecting  flights  to Singapore."

Since the discovery of the Omicron variant, Singapore has already imposed travel restrictions on non-citizens/residents of the country.