Crew exchange keeps door ajar for return of cruise ships

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) reported that this weekend, the technical staff supervised the exchange of 205 crew members both in the Pacific and the Atlantic, of ships of the Princess Cruises and Holland America Line companies of the Carnival Corporation based on the requirements established by the Ministry of Health (Minsa)

For the exchange, the AMP said that it coordinates with the Minsa, the Ministry of Public Security, the National Migration Service, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Tocumen International Airport SA, the National Customs Authority, among others.

The vessels, of various types and under the Panamanian flag, are at the Balboa anchorage. It is a technical-commercial strategy used by the AMP to attract passenger ships, offering them the calm waters of the Bay of Panama so that they can carry out their crew changes, in addition to using the services offered by the auxiliary maritime industries.

One of the objectives is to attract these vessels to Panama and for the country to serve as a destination port for its routes when the reactivation of the industry takes place, said. the AMP.

For the time they remain anchored in Panamanian waters, they receive only auxiliary maritime services,  operations that do not require direct physical contact between the service providers and the crews of the vessels. It refers to the supply of fuel, provisions, supplies, among other basic products for the operation of the ship.