J M Baxi & Co carried out crew changes at Paradip Port Trust and Dhamra port recently, the first on India’s eastern coast in the wake of the pandemic, the company said on Tuesday.

The crew change was carried out first on the ship M V Sunlight Express (nine each sign off and sign on) according to a standard operating procedure issued by the Central government-owned port trust to deal with such task.

A Covid-19 testing centre for the crew was set up inside the port while a private hotel was picked to function as a quarantine centre for the seafarers.

As per the process, the crew was signed off from the ship, the Covid-19 sample was taken and the crew were accommodated in the designated hotel till the test results were received. The crew is allowed to go home if the test results are negative after getting permission/ travel permits from all port/ governmental authorities. Till date, no positive case was detected, the company said.

Subsequently, J M Baxi & Co handled sign-off from M V Atlantic Harmony (1 crew member), M V. Aquintania (3 crew members) and MT Dawn Madurai (5 crew members).

“Paradip Port Trust has now become very convenient for ships to carry out crew changes while their cargo operations are in progress. With the crew change procedure having been streamlined by J M Baxi & Co, even agents who do not have local offices at Paradip have followed this procedure successfully,” it said.

J M Baxi & Co is also the first in taking the initiative to facilitate crew changes at Dhamra port. Arrangements were made with DG Shipping to include Dhamra port in their E-Pass module.

Nine crew members had signed off, while another nine crew members had joined the M V Darya Padma at Dhamra port.

The team of J M Baxi & Co comprising the Regional Head Captain Rakesh Singh and other staff members at Paradip and Dhamra ports facilitated the crew changes under the guidance of Captain Raja Mitra.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW