Measures introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have brought widespread disruption to normal crew change operations, with many seafarers prevented from disembarking or joining their vessels.

What challenges and restrictions do shipowners/operators face when arranging crew changes in Denmark, and how have your local contacts helped to ease the situation?

The biggest challenge in Denmark is the lack of flights and the fact that preventive quarantine is not allowed.

How many crew change operations have you successfully executed since COVID-19 lockdowns started?

We have conducted crew changes on approximately 100 vessels over the last months.

Are there any specific crew change examples you wish to highlight?

Due to current legislation in neighbouring Sweden, we have used hotels in Sweden to offer preventive quarantine up to 14 days before crew sign on to vessels in Denmark. We use Copenhagen Airport to rendezvous and then bus crew over the Sound Bridge to south Sweden.

There is great uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic; how long it will last, and what its impact will be. How are you managing this from a crew change and lay-ups perspective? What are your expectations for the coming months?

We expect to see an increase in lay-ups and a peak in number of crew changes due to the backlog created over the last three months. However, we also expect that the legislation will be changed to accommodate the extraordinary situation which we already see with shore leave again being allowed and the Danish government willingly issuing Emergency Visas.

Source: GAC