The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has issued guidelines for Filipino seafarers and manning agencies with respect to infection of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

Overview

Under the POEA guidelines, seafarers shall be disallowed from availing of any shore leave and no crew change shall take place in the ports of Ebola affected countries. And all ships operating or calling at port of Ebola affected countries shall ensure that seafarers are provided with appropriate protective equipments, such as masks, gloves and goggles where necessary, to limit the possibility of exposure or contamination with the EVD.

The ship master and/or the designated ship medical officer should report to their principal/employer any case involving a crew who become symptomatic of EVD.

In addition, the POEA had requested principals/employers and manning agencies to consider and disseminated the following recommendations.

• The Master must ensure that the crew are aware of the risks, how the virus can be spread and how to mitigate the risks;
• The ISPS Code requirements, ensuring that unauthorized personnel are not allowed to board the ship, should be strictly enforced throughout the duration of the ship’s stay in port; and
• After departure, the crew should be aware of the symptoms and report any occurring symptoms immediately to the persons/authorities in charge of medical treatment when they are onboard.

Further details can be obtained by the POEA Memorandum No.7 dated 11 August, 2014 as per attached.