Covid-19 Decree of 1 April 2021

The Togolese Ministry of the Maritime Economy, Fishing and Coastal Protection has issued a decree confirming the following anti-Covid-19 measures:

• Obligation to wear a personal face mask:
  
• Temperature checks;
• No gatherings in any of the port’s working areas (e.g. for the sale of used vehicles or the de-stuffing of containers);
• Systematic hand washing on entering the various areas within the port;
• For all disembarking crew members, checks on ID and of all the countries visited in the 15 days before their arrival in Togo;
• 14-day quarantine for any person disembarking in the port of Lomé.

Please see this link for the full decree in French.

For vessels, the Covid-19 measures introduced in March 2020 still apply, i.e.

Calling in Lome

Vessels calling in Lomé (Togo) must send the following documents to their agents 72 hours before their expected time of arrival:

• Crew list specifying joining date and port of each crew member.
• Form from Ministry of Health indicating the itinerary of each crew member or passenger over the last 30 days duly completed and signed by the vessel’s Master.
• List of the last ten (10) ports of call.
• Maritime Health Declaration.

Vessels whose ETA from a neighbouring port is less than 72 hours away must email all the above documents to their Lomé ship agent as soon as they sail from the previous port.

The vessel’s Master must also alert his Lomé ship agent to any suspected COVID-19 case on board.

The documents received from the vessel will first be checked by Lomé Port Control and then forwarded to Lomé Port Health Services so that they can decide under what conditions the vessel will be allowed to enter Lomé waters or port:

• If there is no ascertained risk of infection, the vessel will follow normal berthing procedures as soon as the Health Services have been on board.
• If there is a minor risk of infection, the vessel will not be allowed to enter Lomé waters or port until the Health Services have disinfected the vessel, and no other parties will be allowed to embark or disembark.
• If there is a proven risk of infection, stronger measures will be taken, and the vessel may be banned from entering Lomé waters or port.

Crew Changes

Lomé’s airport has now re-opened and crew changes are possible.

• Intended crew changes must be notified to the Port authorities 72 hours before the arrival of the vessels or before the date of the crew change.
• For off-signing crew, Covid-19 tests are carried out under the supervision of the Port Health Service every day from 10:00 to 13:00 LT. The result is obtained the following day.
• For on-signing crew, Covid-19 tests are carried out at the airport upon arrival and the result is obtained the following day. If the result is positive, the crew is transferred to quarantine hotel.
• Travellers/seamen must register at voyage.gouv.tg. The vessel’s agent can complete the registration process for the crew.

Medical Care

In practice, any crew member who is found to have COVID-19 type symptoms will be tested and placed in quarantine on board unless his medical condition requires him to be disembarked and treated in a suitable medical facility.

For non-COVID-19 illnesses, crewmembers are normally given authorization to disembark for medical care and can be repatriated when fit to fly.

Information provided by Budd Togo (budd.togo@budd-pni.com)