Crew logistics
Joining and leaving crew at Damietta, Egypt, move through Cairo International Airport to the gangway or the launch on one instruction to Maingate Shipping, with the file cleared before the flight is bought. Attendance is by our partner agent under Maingate's instruction; the Mombasa desk plans the movement and reports it.
For vessels calling Damietta, the crew change is planned before the cargo is: flights are held until the ETA is firm, immigration is pre-notified, and the joining crew are met at Cairo International Airport and taken to the gangway or the launch. Where the vessel will not be entering the port, the desk advises whether the change is better made here or at the next port on the route.
The port's geography matters: the eastern Nile Delta coast of Egypt, west of Port Said. So does the fact that the port works alongside Port Said and Alexandria, and crew travel is arranged through Cairo.
Every movement is confirmed in writing before the seafarer travels and reported promptly it happens.
Movements at Damietta run through Cairo International Airport, reached by road. Joiners are met at the aircraft door where the airport allows it and at arrivals where it does not, and are through immigration and on the road without delay when the file was filed in advance. Leavers go the other way with their sign-off papers in hand.
Flight bookings track the vessel, not the other way round: options are held and changed as the ETA firms up, and the owner is told the cost of each change.
Immigration at Damietta expects the crew list showing joiners and leavers, passports with adequate validity, seaman's books or seafarer identity documents, and the agent's letter of guarantee. Nationalities that need a visa are pre-notified or obtain it in advance where the rules require; the desk confirms the current position for each crew list rather than relying on a matrix that may be out of date.
Shore passes for crew going ashore during the call and gate passes for the agent's vehicle are issued through the port.
The last mile at Damietta is the gangway or the launch. Alongside, the boarding officer walks the crew through the gate. At anchor, the launch goes out in daylight with the joiners and comes back with the leavers, and the desk confirms the ladder, the lee side and the timing with the master before it sails.
Where the vessel is not entering port, the desk advises whether an off-port-limits change is workable at Damietta or better made at the next port on the route. Hotels near the port are used when flights land after the last launch.
Medical cases at Damietta follow one rule: the seafarer sees a doctor first and the paperwork follows. Hospital, guarantee, daily reports to owner and club, fit-to-fly certificate, escort and flight home are the desk's work; the vessel's schedule is kept by arranging a replacement in parallel.
The owner receives a prompt report of each movement, and the DA carries the receipts.
Who changes crew at Damietta: container ships, bulk carriers, gas carriers and general cargo ships, in the trades of containers, wheat, corn and general cargo inbound, with furniture, agricultural products and liquefied gas outbound. Their rotations differ, so the desk asks the manager for the rotation calendar and works from it, rather than treating every movement as a surprise.
Berth or anchorage decides the last mile; Damietta's working areas are the container terminal, the grain and general cargo berths and the liquefied gas export terminal.
It is workable. The airport is Cairo International Airport, reached by road, and the port accepts crew movements with the formalities filed ahead.
The owner or manager who instructs the desk; costs are itemised with receipts in a separate crew account or in the DA, and each movement is reported promptly.
Yes. Owners place crew movements with the desk as protecting agent while the charterer's agent handles the cargo.
Yes. Kenyan officers and ratings with verified documents are placed through the Mombasa crewing desk and delivered to the joining port.
One instruction, one account, one contact for the master and one for the principal.
Desks that usually follow a Damietta crew change.
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