Crew logistics
Joining and leaving crew at Walvis Bay, Namibia, move through Walvis Bay 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.
Crew change at Walvis Bay is a routine movement: the airport is Walvis Bay Airport, with connections through Windhoek, and the port accepts crew changes at berth and by launch at the anchorage. What decides whether the change goes smoothly is the file: passports, seaman's books, the crew list, the agent's letter of guarantee and the visa position for each nationality, all confirmed before the flight is bought.
Maingate Shipping runs the crew change whether or not we are the cargo agent for the call. Managers who use a charterer's agent for the cargo place the crew movement with us as protecting agent, so that the owner controls the arrangement and the account.
A note on Walvis Bay itself: offshore exploration in the Orange Basin has added rig supply and survey vessel traffic to a port already known for fishing fleets and Atlantic bunkering. The crew plan takes account of it.
Walvis Bay Airport is the door for crew at Walvis Bay. 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 Walvis Bay 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.
At berth the movement is a walk from the gate to the gangway. At the anchorage, a licensed launch is booked for daylight and acceptable weather, and the pilot ladder and the vessel's own arrangements are confirmed with the master beforehand. Where a flight lands after the last launch, a hotel near the port is booked and the transfer 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 Walvis Bay: container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, fishing vessels, offshore vessels and rigs, in the trades of containers, copper and other mineral exports, salt, fish, fuel and project cargo for mining and energy. 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; Walvis Bay's working areas are the container terminal on reclaimed land, the multipurpose berths, the tanker jetty and the fishing harbour.
The crew list marked with joiners and leavers, valid passports, seaman's books or seafarer identity documents, the agent's letter of guarantee and, for some nationalities, a visa obtained in advance or pre-notified for arrival.
Yes, by launch in daylight when the sea state allows.
Through Walvis Bay Airport, with connections through Windhoek, with the desk meeting joiners on arrival and seeing leavers through immigration and check-in.
The desk books a hotel near the port, keeps the crew informed, and moves them to the vessel as soon as she is alongside or at anchor.
Nominate Maingate Shipping and the answer comes from Mombasa with a proforma DA attached.
The port call, the crew desk and the guides, one instruction line.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091