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.