Pilot Procedures & Reporting Crew Health During COVID-19

I recently attended a breakfast with USCG and Port State Control leadership and was reminded that any ship coming directly from China that has a crewman exhibiting the signs associated with the coronavirus will “probably” receive a Captain of The Port Order (COTP) denying it entry.

And before you decide to not report the presence of a sick crewman, let us remind you that failure to report a sick crewman will result in, at a minimum, a $96,000 financial penalty.

Before your ship’s arrival in US waters, we will ask the captain if anyone on board is ill. We will send him the national Center for Disease Control’s questionnaire, which asks him to either confirm that no one on board is ill or to describe the symptoms of anyone who is.

There are also new procedures to follow regarding the local pilots. Those procedures are intended to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus, not so much from your crew to the pilots, but from the pilots to your crew. Here they are:

* In the hour prior to Pilot boarding, wipe down the entire bridge with a 5% solution of bleach water. (Chart table, instruments, chairs, helm, entire console, windows, etc.)

*any crew member entering bridge should thoroughly wash their hands and face prior to entering the bridge, and their hands again immediately upon entering. 

* any member of the bridge team should gel their hands immediately after touching their face at all, PILOT INCLUDED!  Pilot should make this awareness a part of MPX. It is second nature to itch ones nose. If the helmsman sees the pilot do it then speak up! 

* all coffee cups and utensils on bridge should be washed thoroughly. 

* Pilots should NOT be using ships coffee cups! Bring your own. 

* Do not eat on the bridge, nor let anyone else do so while onboard. 

* cool and dry conditions on the bridge. Hot and steamy is the best conditions for a virus to stay alive on surfaces.

* Please only allow the essential personnel allowed in the wheelhouse while a pilot is onboard.

You may find additional guidance from the USCG in the link below.

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Can You Still Make Crew Changes In The USA?

The COVID-19 virus has changed a lot of things in our world today, including the rules for making crew changes in the Pacific Northwest region (Oregon & Washington states). To make crew changes even more difficult to plan for, the rules are different in the Columbia River and Puget Sound regions, both of which are part of NOPAC.

We know from personal experience that several charterer agents have misunderstood recent CBP updates for making crew changes, which has resulted in large expenses for the ship owner on multiple occasions. Lucky for you, NASA focuses exclusively on owner’s protective agency and we are in a position to give you reliable advice. The bottom line?

Crew changes are permitted

…as long as you follow the new rules.

• On-signers can enter the country and join the vessel if they have a C1/D visa.

• Off-signers from Columbia River ports who have the C1/D visa will be cleared to disembark if your agent has already notified the local CBP officers and brought the paperwork to the arrival cargo hold inspection.

• Off-signers from Columbia River ports who have the C1/D visa, but do are not cleared to disembark by CBP during the arrival inspection will be detained and forced to apply for a visa parole, which can be denied at CBP’s discretion.

• Rules for off-signers from Puget Sound ports are more flexible, except that visa parole requests seem to be less likely to be approved by CBP.

So, make sure that your crew department is working closely with your agent to plan in advance for the port at which your vessel will call. Mistakes can be expensive and cause great inconvenience, ranging from your inability to get crewmen home, to having to buy an extra plane ticket for the courier to escort your crewmen to another airport in the country and then the overnight hotel costs and hourly rates until he returns to Portland or Seattle.

To help avoid a messy situation, we recommend that your crew department provide your agent with an eTicket, showing the intended departure flight, by the time your vessel arrives at anchor. Your owner’s protective agent (hopefully that is NASA!) will help you regarding the ETB and ETD in order to make the crew change at the berth, avoiding costly launch boat costs.

Remember, any visa parole approval for crewmen who do not have the C1/D visa will be conditional upon the flight going directly from Portland (or Seattle) to a foreign airport.

So, go ahead and plan to make the crew changes you want to while your ship is in the Columbia River or Puget Sound region.

We will help you with the rest.

It Is Almost AGM Time On The US West Coast

Not a picture of AGM (which has been renamed Spongy Moth), but I liked this so I used it to make the point.

Any ship going from northeast Asia to the US west coast, for the rest of this summer, will need to have a certificate that shows it is free of Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) before it leaves the port. You should obtain an AGM certificate, but if something legitimate prevents you from doing so then rest assured all will be well.

Do not let that prevent you from profitable business on the US west coast.

If you find a good piece of business then take it!

CBP, the agency that will send an officer to check for AGM, does not want to unduly burden commerce and will not prevent you from entering US waters if you fail to obtain an AGM certificate; they will cut you some slack if have a history of good cooperation.

Work with you owner’s protective agent (OPA) to show CBP that you made a good faith effort to obtain an AGM certificate. The likely result will be that CBP will send an officer on board at the pilot station to check for AGM. If, after the two hour inspection, your ship is found to be AGM-free then you will proceed without further delay. From our experience, the charterer will not claim two hours worth of off-hire and there will not be any delays or costs associated with the AGM inspection. As always, please feel free to contact me at 503-319-3278 or dp@nasaship, if you have any questions. In the meantime, please click on the link below for this year’s AGM season dates and other related information.

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