News

• Port Operational Status
• General Information
• Border Status
• Preventive Measures in Port Facilities (COVID-19)
• Procedures for Vessel Assistance (COVID-19)/ Possible Berthing Delays
• Chilean Frontier Status and Available Flights

General Information as of 18th of July 2022 

4.241.546 accumulated confirmed cases have been registered in Chile so far, where there are 38.940 active cases of coronavirus, and 59.577 deceased. (Coronavirus arrived in Chile on the 3rd of March 2020). 

The Ministry of Health has announced updates regarding the Step by Step plan, which comes into effect on July 28, at 05:00 hrs LT: 

• The following areas are considered as Medium Sanitary Impact: Linares, Colbún, Longaví, Parral, Retiro, San Javier, Villa Alegre and Yerbas Buenas (Maule region); Chillán, Bulnes, Chillán Viejo, El Carmen, Pemuco, Pinto, Quillón, San Ignacio and Yungay (Ñuble region). 

Disclaimer: As local conditions and regulations can change by the hour, before making any firm plans please contact Americas.Ops@waterfront-ms.com to give you the latest updates for individual countries.

• Port Operational Status
• General Information
• Border Status
• Preventive Measures in Port Facilities (COVID-19)
• Procedures for Vessel Assistance (COVID-19)/ Possible Berthing Delays
• Chilean Frontier Status and Available Flights

Border Status

Disclaimer: As local conditions and regulations can change by the hour, before making any firm plans please contact Americas.Ops@waterfront-ms.com to give you the latest updates for individual countries.

• Port Operational Status
• General Information
• Border Status
• Preventive Measures in Port Facilities (COVID-19)
• Procedures for Vessel Assistance (COVID-19)/ Possible Berthing Delays
• Chilean Frontier Status and Available Flights

Preventive Measures in Port Facilities (COVID-19)

Generally port operations are not affected however, strict sanitary protocols have been implemented in order to prevent COVID-19 propagation. 

Overall, all ports have implemented temperature control barriers in the points of access for both internal employees and external personnel (truck drivers, suppliers among others) and must use the required PPE in order to enter port facilities while strictly complying with the sanitary measures associated with COVID-19. Physical distancing is being promoted among employees, and the same working formats are maintained in order to avoid contact between workers. 

Foreign Crew Information (Crew Change)

As of April 14, 2022, the regulations and requirements are as follows: 

• C19 Mandatory for all travelers. 
• PCR test will no longer be mandatory and will be recommended before traveling to Chile. 
• Homologation of vaccines will be voluntary for non-resident foreigners; however, those who do not have it will not be able to access the mobility pass. 
• Random PCR will be performed upon arrival to the country. 
• Travel insurance that with coverage for COVID-19. 
• For more information please visit: https://www.chileatiende.gob.cl/coronavirus/viajes-y-estado-de-frontera 

Disclaimer: As local conditions and regulations can change by the hour, before making any firm plans please contact Americas.Ops@waterfront-ms.com to give you the latest updates for individual countries.

• Port Operational Status
• General Information
• Border Status
• Preventive Measures in Port Facilities (COVID-19)
• Procedures for Vessel Assistance (COVID-19)/ Possible Berthing Delays
• Chilean Frontier Status and Available Flights

Procedures for Vessel Assistance (COVID-19)/ Possible Berthing Delays

• C19 is mandatory for all passengers. Health Authority will review, pre-arrival documentation: Vessel’s Maritime Declaration and all Health Declarations completed by each person on board. Please check with the corresponding port regarding the Vessel’s Maritime Declaration. 
• The Health Declarations are individual and must be completed in https://c19.cl/#/) 
• All declarations must be submitted to the respective Health Authority (SEREMI) 24 hours prior to the arrival of the vessel. 
• All declarations should not be older than 48 hours prior to the arrival of the vessel. 
• Original declarations must be available upon arrival, so that the SEREMI health officer boarding the vessel removes them at the time of temperature control on board. 
• If documentation is in order, upon arrival of the vessel, an inspection will be carried out at the indicated Sanitary Control Point by the epidemiology commission. If inspection is approved, permission will be granted to continue the clearance process accordingly. 
• However, if documentation indicates symptoms of infectious disease, the corresponding protocol is activated and the vessel will be quarantined and the sanitary revision suspended. Depending on the port, the vessel will remain outside port limits or deviated to another port waiting at anchorage for the quarantine remaining time to be completed. 
• For national and foreign vessels, coming from Valparaiso and San Antonio, there will be no inspection or sanitary control of the crew upon arrival in ports, as this would have already been done by the Health Authorities in the respective ports of Valparaiso Region, considering that such inspection has been carried out within 72 hours prior to arrival. In the case of San Antonio, they can disembark as long as their vaccines are approved by MINSAL; vessels with a navigation period less than or equal to seven (7) days will continue to be tested with antigens on a mandatory basis; vessels with a navigation period of more than 7 days and less than 14 days will be tested randomly. VAP: only Chileans with mobility pass can disembark, foreigners cannot disembark yet. (Quick test applies to all vessels).
• Overall, national vessels coming from a Chilean port, outside Valparaiso Region, will be subject to investigation and sanitary control of crew members, with a particular exception for the region of Tarapacá (including ports of Iquique, Patache, Patillos), where vessels arriving from national ports are excluded from the Sanitary Checkpoint. This procedure will only be maintained for vessels coming from abroad, however, only in the case when the documentation shows signs of infectious disease on board. If documentation is in order, Sanitary Checkpoint will not be conducted for port of Iquique. 
• Foreign vessels that come from a Chilean port, outside Valparaiso Region, will be subject only to sanitary control of crew members without the previous health investigation as this would have already been done in the previous national port. 
• For vessels calling at Quintero,
• in order to ensure safe and secure conditions for the Health Authorities, please consider that the Sanitary Control Point will have an operating schedule from 7:30 hrs to 18:00 hrs LT during winter time and from 7:30 hrs to 19:00 hrs during summer time. Health Authority requests to fill up an affidavit + maritime health declaration at least 24 hrs prior vessel arrival and not before than 48 hrs, this declaration is forwarded to the Health Authority through the Agency. Affidavits must be filled up handwritten by each crew member. 
• For port of Quintero, regarding the pilotage service, it is established that the Authorized Port Pilots, will be divided in 2 groups of 4 pilots, with shifts of 10 consecutive days of operation, in order to ensure a minimum of 50% availability and limit the possibilities of losing the capacity to maneuver in case of infection, just to allow the continuity of maritime operations. Lastly, please consider that 2 launch boats are required, one for the Pilot and a separate one for the mooring staff. For Enap Terminals 03 launch boats are required (Monobuoy, Multibuoy and LPG Terminals)
• For Port of Antofagasta, vessels arriving from international port after 19:00 hrs. The sanitary inspection will be carried out at 07:15 hrs the next day. Therefore, vessels will not be able to berth during the 3rd shift. 
• The Embassy of China has signaled in an official letter, established protocols for vessels with destination China. In order to reduce the risk of cross-border spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, for all international vessels that will enter the ports of China, with a change of crew in a foreign port, the crew that will make the change must undergo the PCR test within 3 days before boarding and boarding with presentation of the negative test certificate. In the event that confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 appear on any vessel, all crew members must take the PCR exam and present the negative certificate. The competent department of China will clarify the relevant requirements and guide the shipping companies to carry out the corresponding work. At the request of the Chinese Government, they must have a PCR in Chilean laboratories or clinics that are authorized by the Chinese Embassy. 
• For Mejillones, please consider the following restrictions regarding the SIRE / Vetting Inspections:
  – Interacid Terminal – authorized inspections, for Acid Vessels, authorization must be requested to ICL, for hydrocarbon vessels authorization to COPEC Central + Local Plant
  – Mejillones Terminal – authorized inspections, at the beginning or end of operations and in case the inspection must be performed during the discharge operations , the inspector must have the necessary PPE for the cargo of Acid + COVID-19, and should not interrupt the Cargo Personnel of the discharge (Duty Officer, firefighter, etc), if that occurs operations should stop immediately.
  – Oxiquim Terminal – inspections not authorized with a vessel moored and this is permanent. 

Disclaimer: As local conditions and regulations can change by the hour, before making any firm plans please contact Americas.Ops@waterfront-ms.com to give you the latest updates for individual countries.

• Port Operational Status
• General Information
• Border Status
• Preventive Measures in Port Facilities (COVID-19)
• Procedures for Vessel Assistance (COVID-19)/ Possible Berthing Delays
• Chilean Frontier Status and Available Flights

Domestic Flights

• From Nuevo Pudahuel they explained that, according to the disposition of the health authority for the transition phase, only those persons who prove their return to home, those who need to travel for medical purposes, attend a funeral in another region, or those who need to go to work, will be able to travel, although in this case the collective permission that should be granted by the corresponding company will be requested. 
• LATAM / SKY / JET SMART ROUTES: Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Concepción, Calama, Copiapó, Iquique, La Serena, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Valdivia, Temuco. 
• When traveling to cities under lockdown, people must have special permission/safe-conduct including one of the following: Residence certificate, proof of work activities, medical treatment, or attendance at funerals. 
• For passengers coming from or going to communes in Step 1 (Quarantine) or Step 2 (Transition), the Metropolitan Region Health SEREMI informs passengers that given the COVID-19 health emergency, they must present a health passport which they can obtain in www.c19.cl and the trip must be accredited under one of these 4 reasons: Return Home, Work purposes, Medical Treatment, Family Funeral. 

International Flights

Because this information depends to a large extent on the changes imposed by each country regarding its borders, we recommend always checking with the corresponding airline its availability, flight confirmation, reservations, among others. 

• LATAM offers flights from / to Santiago to / from Asunción, Buenos Aires, La Paz, Bogotá, Lima, Guayaquil, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Miami, Sao Paulo, Madrid. Via Sao Paulo: London, Madrid, Frankfurt, Mexico, Lisbon. 
• IBERIA offers flights between Santiago and Madrid 
• AIR FRANCE offers flights between Santiago and Paris 
• KLM offers flights between Santiago and Amsterdam 
• AMERICAN AIRLINES offers flights between Santiago – Miami 
• COPA AIRLINES offers flights between Santiago and Ciudad de Panamá 
• AEROLÍNEAS ARGENTINAS offers flights between Santiago and Buenos Aires. 
• AVIANCA offers flights between Santiago and Bogotá from October 17th, 2020 
• SKY offers routes between Santiago and Lima, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo. It reactivates its Santiago – Bogotá route on December 14th 
• JetSMART offers flights between Santiago and Buenos Aires, Lima, Arequipa, Trujillo, Bogotá and Cali. 
• UNITED offers flights between Santiago and Houston from November 2nd, 2020 
• BRITISH AIRWAYS offers flights between Santiago and London from November 8th, 2020 

Disclaimer: As local conditions and regulations can change by the hour, before making any firm plans please contact Americas.Ops@waterfront-ms.com to give you the latest updates for individual countries.