Joiners and leavers
Joining and leaving crew at Lekki, Nigeria, move through Murtala Muhammed 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 Lekki, 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 Murtala Muhammed International Airport and taken to the gangway or the launch. Off-port-limits changes for vessels in transit are done the same way, without the vessel entering the port.
The port's geography matters: the deep-sea port east of Lagos inside the Lekki free trade zone. So does the fact that the port takes vessels that Apapa and Tin Can cannot, and its newer procedures differ from the older Lagos ports in gate, security and documentation.
Every movement is confirmed in writing before the seafarer travels and reported promptly it happens.
Murtala Muhammed International Airport is the door for crew at Lekki. The desk's driver waits at arrivals with the vessel's name, walks the joiners through immigration on the pre-notification already filed, and brings them to the port gate or the launch. For leavers, the same driver collects them at the gangway and sees them through immigration and check-in.
Nobody buys a ticket until the vessel's schedule is firm; the desk holds options and rebooks when the ETA moves, which it usually does.
Every nationality on the crew list is checked against the current rules at Lekki before a ticket is bought: who gets a visa on arrival, who needs one in advance, who transits on the agent's letter of guarantee alone. The crew list, passports and seaman's books are sent to immigration with the letter of guarantee ahead of the movement.
Shore passes are arranged for crew going ashore, and the boarding officer carries the port passes the movement needs.
Berth changes at Lekki are simple: the agent's vehicle, the gate pass, the gangway. Anchorage changes need a launch, daylight, a sea state the launch operator accepts and a pilot ladder rigged to the master's satisfaction. The desk books the launch against the tide and the weather and tells the master the time it will be alongside.
When the aircraft and the launch cannot meet, a hotel room near the port bridges the gap and the movement runs at first light. Off-port-limits crew changes for vessels in transit are done outside the port, with the vessel slowing to take the launch alongside and resuming passage within a couple of hours.
Sick or injured crew are taken to hospital with an agent's representative, the owner and the P&I club are informed promptly, and repatriation with a medical escort is arranged when the doctor allows travel. Replacement seafarers are arranged in parallel from Kenya through our crewing desk so that the vessel does not sail short.
Every movement is reported to the owner with the times, the names and the costs, and the receipts follow in the DA.
Who changes crew at Lekki: large container ships, tankers, bulk carriers and project vessels, in the trades of containers, petroleum products, fertilizer and project cargo. 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; Lekki's working areas are the deep-draft container terminal, the dry bulk and liquid berths, and the jetties serving the refinery and fertilizer complex nearby.
Yes. The airport is Murtala Muhammed International Airport, reached by road from the free zone, and the port accepts crew movements at berth and at anchorage.
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.
Nominate Maingate Shipping and the answer comes from Mombasa with a proforma DA attached.
Crew work sits with port agency and crew management on the same desk.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091