The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) to streamline sign-on/sign-off of Indian Seafarers at Indian Ports for merchant shipping vessels.
In the case of signing-on to the ship, the ship owner or the Recruitment and Placement Service (RPS) agency will identify the Indian seafarers for joining a vessel.
Alongside, the seafarers will intimate their travel and contact history for last 28 days to the ship owner or the RPS agency by email, as per procedure laid down by Director General of Shipping (DGS).
Following this, the seafarer would be examined by a DGS-approved medical