Crew logistics
For fishing vessels and every other vessel calling Port Victoria, the crew change is a movement Maingate Shipping plans end to end: immigration, airport, transfer, launch, hotel and the prompt report. Partner agent on the ground, Mombasa desk in charge.
For vessels calling Port Victoria, 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 Seychelles 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 harbour at Victoria on Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles. So does the fact that the tuna fishing season drives a steady rhythm of crew changes, provisioning and repairs for purse seiners and supply vessels.
Every movement is confirmed in writing before the seafarer travels and reported promptly it happens.
The airport for Port Victoria is Seychelles International Airport, a few kilometres from the port. Joining crew are met on arrival, taken through immigration on the agent's pre-notification, and driven to the port or the launch pier. Leaving crew are collected from the gangway, taken through immigration with their sign-off documents and checked in for their flight.
Flights are held until the ETA is firm and rebooked without fuss when the vessel slips; a crew change fixed to an optimistic ETA is the commonest way a movement fails.
The file that makes a crew change at Port Victoria work: passports valid for the period immigration requires, seaman's books or seafarer identity documents, the vessel's crew list with the joiners and leavers marked, the letter of guarantee from the agent, and the visa position for each nationality confirmed with immigration for this movement, not assumed from the last one.
The desk files the notification before the flight lands so that the seafarer is expected at the desk rather than explained at it.
The last mile at Port Victoria 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.
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. Hotels near the port are used when flights land after the last launch.
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.
The vessels that change crew at Port Victoria are fishing vessels, container feeders, tankers, cruise ships, yachts and research vessels, calling for containers and the port's other trades, or passing on the routes that make Port Victoria a convenient stop. Each type has its own rotation: cargo ships change a few officers and ratings per call, fishing and offshore vessels rotate crews in numbers, cruise ships rotate hotel staff on every call.
The islands of the Seychelles, supplied by inter-island vessels from Mahé, which shapes how far the port is from the airport in practice and how much road time the plan must allow.
A few working days is comfortable for most nationalities once the ETA is firm; longer where a visa must be obtained in advance. The desk confirms the requirement when the crew list is received.
Yes, by licensed launch in daylight and acceptable weather.
Seychelles International Airport, a few kilometres from the port.
Yes. Kenyan officers and ratings are placed through our crewing desk in Mombasa with verified documents, and delivered to the vessel at the port of joining.
One instruction, one account, one contact for the master and one for the principal.
Desks that usually follow a Port Victoria crew change.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091