Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China has announced the following matters concerning the arrangements for crew shifts of Chinese-flagged international sailing vessels during the novel coronavirus pneumonia:

1.Shipping companies shall promptly master the epidemic prevention and control measures for the ship's arrival at the port during the novel coronavirus pneumonia, formulate the crew shifts and ship voyage plan, and timely arrange the crew shift when the crew's labor contract or on-board agreement expires.

2.If the crew's labor contract or the boarding agreement expires and the ship's arrival at the port is forbidden to allow the crew to change shifts, the shipping company may take the following measures:

（1）With the written consent of the crew, the term of the crew's labor contract or boarding agreement may be extended, and a supplementary contract or agreement may be signed. The continuous service term of the crew shall not exceed 12 months;

（2）Within one month after the extension of the contract or agreement, the shipping company shall report to the maritime administration of the port of registry for recordation.

3.For the crew members who have been on board for 12 consecutive months, the shipping company shall immediately arrange the crew shifts. If the crew shifts cannot be arranged due to the relevant port epidemic prevention and control measures, the shipping company shall immediately arrange the crew to rest on board. If the crew shift involved in the manning reduction, it shall meet the requirements of the ship's minimum safety manning certificate. If it is in line with the relevant provisions, the shipping company can apply to the maritime administration for a manning reduction or exemption certificate.

Source:Sarah Yu,XINDE MARINE NEWS

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