Updated guidelines for commercial ships when approaching Greek ports
According to the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code and the current rules applicable, regulating Port Security Control and Ship Security Notification (PSC/SSN), ship owners / masters, that are due to call at Greek ports, are requested to complete the below mentioned required documents, before their arrival, and send the necessary certificates, 72 hours in advance of their arrival at the Greek port concerned.
Required documents before ship arrival:
- List of Certificates
- Declaration of crew Certification
- Ship pre-arrival security information form for all ships prior to entry into the port of an EU member state. To be submitted to the competent authority for maritime security of the port of arrival
- Updated waste form. Tank / storage capacities of sludge, bilge, sewage, garbage must be filled in
- Maritime declaration of health. Submitted by all vessels on international, as well as domestic voyages
- Crew list (with passport numbers & expiration dates)
Required certificates before ship arrival:
- Registry Certificate
- Tonnage Certificate
- International Ship Security Certificate
- IOPP & Supplement
- P&I club (Certificate of entry)
- CLC Certificate
- Bunker Oil Pollution Civil Liability Certificate
- Continuous Synopsis Record (CSR)
- Class Certificate
- Water Ballast Management Certificate
- International Sewage Pollution Prevention Certificate
- Statement of compliance on inventory of hazardous materials
Upon receipt of the abovementioned documents, it is required to submit in a timely fashion all the relevant necessary reports at the National Maritime Single Window (NMSW). National Maritime Single Window (NMSW) is the system where information regarding ships that arrive at or depart from Greek ports are submitted. NMSW is linked to other information systems, such as the SafeSeaNet maritime information exchange system and is the place where information is reported by declarants and then made available electronically to the various national authorities and member states.
Users / declarants have to submit the following notifications on a case-by-case basis:
- 72h pre-arrival notification
- 24h pre-arrival notification
- Actual time of arrival notification
- Arrival / Depart DPG (Dangerous and Polluting Goods) notification. This notification is submitted only by ships carrying dangerous or polluting goods regardless of size, coming from non-EU ports
- Waste notification
- Security notification
- Maritime Declaration of Health notification
- General declaration
- Crew and passenger list
Port authorities have the right to verify whether the visiting ships, regardless of their flag or their Classification Society, comply with the international standards for safety and prevention of pollution. The Port State Control (PSC) is the inspection of ships under foreign flag, in order to verify that their security, construction, management and equipment comply with the requirements of international regulations and maritime conventions. The inspections which are carried out by port state authorities are not announced a priori, except for exceptional circumstances, and to that end both the ship masters, as well as the ship owners, always need to be in a state of readiness.
Finally, due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, it is required to ensure that competent public health authorities are duly and timely informed, before the arrival and entry of the ship at the respective port, by completing and submitting the Maritime Declaration of Health (MDH), signed and stamped, by the ship’s master. It is a report about the health status of the crew and includes a list of the last ten ports of call. Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, shore leave to crew members is also prohibited by the respective port authorities (unless the seafarer needs non COVID-19 medical care).