I ensured hand washing/sanitising was frequent during the inspection and wore a facemask if other persons were present.


Travelling interstate/overseas has been very restricted and I have chosen not to travel through this period and into the near future.


The next 12 months will be interesting to see if the rest of the Australian states remain with low COVID-19 numbers and border isolation decreases. I am still not travelling interstate even though some of the states have opened without isolation requirements. This will probably reduce my turnover slightly, but I feel the risk outweighs the reward and happy to stay put for now.


I hope infection numbers decrease in your part of the world soon and look forward to attending an IIMS event soon.


construction, manufacturing and shipyard industries, mainly Indian and Bangladeshi nationals living in huge dormitories with up to 20 men in cramped rooms using shared bathrooms and kitchens - perfect conditions for the spread of the virus, resulting in 90% of all infections. Up to 1st of October Singapore registered totally 57,762 cases and 27 deaths.


Singapore being a maritime hub in the region plays a major role for the shipping, ship repair and offshore industry. The challenges and consequences, because of COVID-19, when working in the marine industry are significant.


In Singapore, the recommendation of the governmental bodies is to work from home if the job function allows for it. As a result, most people are working from home, especially desk jobs. Meetings are conducted on- line using platforms such as zoom, webex, skype and teams.


Singapore and the COVID-19 pandemic by Luc Verley...


Singapore is a relatively small state in South East Asia with a population of only 5.6 million people. It reported the first cases of COVID-19 infections in late January. The government responded with a nationwide contact- tracing program, social distancing measures and compulsory wearing of facemasks. The country went in to a lock-down from 7th of April which was extended to the 1st of June. ‘Phase 1’ followed - a gradual opening of businesses and from the 19th of June ‘phase 2’ extended up to this present day. An unexpected development in Singapore was the outbreak in the dormitories for the low wage foreign workers. Singapore houses nearly 300,000 workers for the


Now when it comes to the non- desk part of the job it becomes much more complicated. To board a vessel in Singapore to conduct a survey, a request is to be made to the port authorities 3 days in advance. Additionally for those working in the maritime industry a scheme has been recently set-up called ‘rostered routing testing’, whereby it is required to go for a PCR test every 14 days.


When it comes to travel, Singapore has closed its borders and entry into Singapore for foreigners is nearly impossible. Crew changes are possible, but it is a lengthy and complicated process. Regional travel has many restrictions. The Singapore advisory is also to avoid overseas trips. If residents are returning from overseas to Singapore, a compulsory 14-day quarantine is required in a government appointed hotel facility.


My personal view is that this will continue for the biggest part of 2021 or even longer. The challenges of vaccinating the global population should not be underestimated!


Stay safe! 48 | The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94


Here in Mallorca, John Walker says, “We were totally locked down for the last two weeks of March, which meant that everyone except non- essential workers were ordered to stay at home. I must admit that during this time I wondered if life would ever be the same again as there was a real nationwide sense of panic. At the beginning of April self-employed workers with permits were allowed “essential travel” on the often police road- blocked, deserted roads. Luckily, I was permitted to work and move, but it was lonely.


Mallorca being a yachting hub and with travel restrictions in place, meant potential buyers of yachts were unable to travel to view the vessels, relying on brokers’ videos and/or the surveyor’s explanation of condition in which to move forward. This of course placed additional responsibility and burden on the surveyor. Surveying work here has been intense, as not many other surveyors could visit - the few local surveyors were called to step in which dramatically increased workload, which is only now slowing down.


Persons in the industry have adapted, whether onboard the vessels, in the ports or shipyards to always wearing masks over nose and mouth – this is law.


The yachting season here has been strange, very few foreign owners, no bare boat charters - the residents have got their islands back! As I write this, parts of Palma are going back into partial lock- down, but most have adapted to the changes – with acceptance of the situation – of course bars/ hotels and restaurants have been hit very hard. The once thronging Magaluf is now a ghost town.


Right now, as the weather is fine there are a lot of boats on the water and surprisingly (or maybe not) still a lot of accidents. BUT generally our industry is suffering as lots of people being laid off due to reduced refit work.”


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