SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Friday that protocols for the proposed activation of Subic port as crew-change hub are already in place and only need approval from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and concerned local government units (LGUs).
In a practice run for the crew-change project at the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) complex here, Vice Admiral Narciso Vingson, who is DOTr assistant secretary for communications and commuter affairs, said the protocols to be implemented here are the best practices in the maritime sector.
“The system we are implementing has incorporated lessons we have learned from earlier activities,” Vingson said.
“During the mass repatriation of seafarers from cruise ships, there were steps that have already been corrected to ensure that health will not be compromised—for the workers and the seafarers. To be able to check this, we have involved all parties, national and local government and agencies,” he added.
Friday’s simulations witnessed by SBMA and LGU representatives included the point-to-point departure and arrival procedures at the former Hanjin ferry landing near the airport, using a tugboat to transport the crew to and from ships at anchorage.
Meanwhile, the dry run for the more complex arrival procedure was held at the Subic airport where new arrivals would undergo the required swab test, have their documents processed at a one-stop shop, and thereafter proceed to a mandatory quarantine facility.
Concerned LGU representatives present in Friday’s dry run focused mostly on the possibility that local workers might be exposed to Covid-19 infection during crew-change operations, a concern raised earlier by SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma.
Eisma said that Subic is willing to host the crew-change hub project, but stressed that safety measures should be in place in all phases of the project and that LGUs should be consulted in all aspects because workers who would man crew-change facilities will come from communities contiguous to Subic.
So far, Eisma said, the SBMA board of directors had only approved the first phase of the project, which involves the point-to-point embarkation of seafarers, pending local consensus on the second phase which involves the quarantine of arriving crewmen in hotels within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
In the dry run, DOTr Undersecretary Raul del Rosario, who is administrator of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS), pointed out that the one-stop shop system would not allow direct exposure between seafarers and processors who will be coming from the Bureau of Quarantine, and that no airport staff will be directly involved in the crew-change operation.
Regarding phase two, Del Rosario said the safety requirements of LGUs “can be met easily because they have already been included in the protocols.”
“All hotel workers will be housed. They will be quarantined for 14 days before being allowed to go home,” he added.
Del Rosario also said LGUs will be represented in the one-stop shop monitoring team, which will regularly gets updates and reports.
The activation of Subic as a crew-change hub is a national government undertaking that seeks to implement the so-called Philippine Green Lane to facilitate the speedy and safe travel of seafarers, including their safe and swift crew change during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Del Rosario said that as of last week there were already 68 ships on Manila Bay awaiting clearance for crew change.
He said that with the protocols already defined, the DOTr is just awaiting approval by the SBMA and acceptance by LGUs so that the agency can bring the ships into Subic Bay.
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