Crew Change
Sign-on and sign-off handled end to end, from visa and immigration through to the gangway.
A crew change that goes wrong does not just inconvenience the seafarer. It holds the vessel, breaches hours of rest, and can leave a crew member over their contract in a jurisdiction where that becomes an MLC deficiency.
Marine Surveys Africa handles crew changes across the ports we cover: immigration and shore pass formalities, port health, transport, accommodation, and escorting joiners and leavers between the airport and the gangway. We work to the vessel's schedule, including the version of it that changes at midnight.
Documentation is the part that most often fails at short notice in this region, so it is the part we start earliest: visas, letters of guarantee, seafarer identity documents and the port-specific paperwork that varies more than anyone expects between neighbouring countries.
Applies to
- Sign-on and sign-off at all ports covered
- Immigration, shore pass and port health formalities
- Visa and letter of guarantee support
- Airport transfers and accommodation
- Medical repatriation and emergency landings
- Spares, stores and mail delivery alongside
How we work
The same method at every port, so the report reads the same from one call to the next.
- 01
Early documentation
Visas, letters of guarantee and seafarer documents started as soon as the call is known, since this is what fails at short notice.
- 02
Authority clearance
Immigration, port health and terminal access arranged and confirmed before the crew travel.
- 03
Transfer
Joiners and leavers met and escorted between airport, accommodation and the gangway, with the vessel kept informed.
- 04
Confirmation
Sign-on and sign-off confirmed to owner and manager with documentation, so the crew list and hours of rest records stay correct.
Crew Change port by port
This service is available across all 38 of our ports. The ports below have a dedicated page covering what is specific to working there.
Need crew change?
Tell us the vessel, the port and the date. We reply within two hours, any time of day.