October 14th – Crew changes in Argentine ports


October 14th 2021

Crew changes in Argentine ports

In view of the ongoing developing situation and different communications and instructions being issued by Sanitary Authorities of the Argentine Government we have chosen to send a consolidated daily report at the closing of working hours with an update of the day’s news.

ANTARES: We attach to this News a flyer with the full detail of all our staff for your ready reference. Both for our office in Buenos Aires and for San Lorenzo (Upriver).

Week end duty staff: (Friday noon, October 08th, until Monday, 0800 hrs, October 12th)

– HQ Buenos Aires:

Horacio Vazquez +54 9 11 5578 4554

Gastón Nicolas Cabrera +54 9 11 5578 4556

Upriver:

Sebastián José Ferrara +54 9 11 3156 1679

Franco Gabriel Ostojic +54 9 11 6656 1678

Sebastian Simonella +54 9 11 6434 1674

Walter Nestor Travaglini +54 9 11 3156 1680

National Holiday: Monday, November 22nd, 2021

Wheat-Argentina/Brazil trade: Now, the Argentine Government will be issuing guarantees that the GMO wheat will not be sold as “normal” wheat and that all wheat of the variant harvested will be identified and separated in specific locations so it will not mix in with classical wheat.

Soyabean oil: The market has reported strong bookings of export licenses for soyabean oil from Argentina. This is interpreted as a consequence of India reducing import taxes significantly over the last days. Sales and consequently shipment dates are not reported but one source put the “booked” quantity at close to 350 thousand tons.

Necochea: Necochea no longer requires arriving vessels to comply with a 14 day quarantine. This brings the port back into line with the rest of the country.

Crew changes in Argentina: The Government has announced that crew changes are to be allowed starting October 20th. Details have not yet been specified. Soonest this is available we shall report.

River Parana draft: A small “surge” of water is coming down the River Parana and is expected to produce an increase that may amount to an improvement of between 0.50 and 1 meter in the draft at Upriver ports (San Lorenzo and Rosario).

Please see the map below:


This is information supplied by INA (The National Water Institute). The “surge” is being forecast to last in to the first week in November. As always this will be affected by weather conditions over the River Plate and the tidal back ups. We urge you to consult prior load completion of vessels bringing inbound cargoes to Upriver ports.

Bahia Blanca – Tug service: Tug boats are now working for 12 hours per day, every day. The 12 hour work period will be counted as from the first service of the day. After this period is finished there will be no further services during the next 12 hours. Necochea has been applying this procedure for the last few years. This is due to a wage dispute between crews and tug boat owners.

Scrubbers. The restriction to use open-loop scrubbers was regulated/prohibited on Aug 2020 (Disp 15/2020), but shortly afterward the application of this regulation was ‘suspended’ by the authority (Disp 20/2020). Therefore, at present time no specific regulation/restriction applies regarding the use of scrubbers in Argentina waterways, at least, until further notice. Besides scrubbers, any other wash water discharge is strictly forbidden in riverway and seaports and to be carried out as per MARPOL Annex V.

Crew changes made at previous port/s 14 days prior arrival in Argentine ports: Besides many other documents and certificates, these below are of special concern:

-Owner’s Crew changes protocol at foreign countries].

-Owner’s note (with signature and stamp of the Captain and Owners company) clarifying that the crew change was carried out taking all due precautions, etc.

-Medical certificate issued by certified professional in the country where the crew joined, not the country of origin.

-Covid test, PCR, for on-signers at port of boarding (not country of origin).

Lacking any of above (besides all usual documents) pilots will not be allowed to board until a 14 day period is counted starting from the moment the last crew-member has boarded.

Will keep you posted.

Best regards,

Antares Servicios Maritimos S.A.

For more information

Local News