COVID updates and Maritime activities in France and Monaco

France

France is now in a new national lockdown since 30 October 2020, that will last at least six weeks to curb one of Europe's biggest coronavirus surges and ease the pressure on its hospitals.
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Schools and workplaces remain open, people are for now allowed to go to work, to go out for exercise for a maximum of one hour in their local area, for medical reasons and for essential shopping, after having filled or downloaded an exit exemption certificate. Home working  is urged wherever possible.
 
As far as maritime activities are concerned, in accordance with decree n° 2020-1310 of 30 October 2020 prescribing the general measures necessary to deal with the covid-19 pandemic within the framework of the state of health emergency, and  new decree  218/2020 of 2 November 2020 published by the Préfecture Maritime de la Méditerranée, nautical events and recreational activities are prohibited with the exception of activities relating to high-level athletes and school groups and for safety/repair reasons.
Any movement on sea must be pre-authorised and duly documented (ie: mooring authorisation, refit or repair agreement etc..). In addition passengers must be in possession of a sea travel certificate, which can be downloaded from www.premar-mediterranee.gouv.fr.
At sea as well as on land, these provisions are intended to actively fight against the spread of the Covid 19 by restricting all non-essential movements.


Monaco

Monaco has not put in place a new lock down yet but instead has introduced a curfew since 31 October between 8pm and 6am.

Casinos are closed, restaurants are accessible in the evenings only upon reservation and until 9.30 pm and other measures to increase social distancing have been imposed.

As far as maritime activities are concerned, the situation is unchanged since June 2020.
Monaco borders are opened to EU citizens/yachts without quarantine, ports are also opened and it is possible to sail freely.

While navigation has been liberalised, certain measures are still required on board and on shore to protect the virus spread. These can be briefly summarised as follows:

Declaration of health and tests:
       
  • Obligation to declare the vessel’s sanitary situation to the Maritime Police 48 hours prior to arrival in port and to report any suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 on board to the relevant Authorities.
  • Tests are required for yachts arriving from non-Schengen ports.
 
Barrier measures:
 
  • Avoid close contacts;
  • Respect social distancing measures of at least one meter between guests on board unless they live together;
  • Proper sanitization of all vessel areas including the engine room and services;
  • Personal protective equipment to be provided to passengers to cover nose and mouth;
  • Obligation to put hand and surface sanitizer at disposal on board;
  • Obligation to display information notices, signs, written in several languages, to inform charterer and guests about the necessary hygienic measures to be respected;
  • Obligation for crew to use masks and gloves and any other protective equipment depending on the type of vessel, during mooring, unmooring, bunkering and towing operations;
  • Crew to undergo a preventive (before boarding) and periodical first aid CoVid-19 tests, the results of which shall be kept on board;
  • Obligation to take the crew temperature on a daily basis;
  • Prevent access to the vessel by strangers while in port or at sea;
  • Marinas have also adopted best practice guides to prevent the spread of the virus and respect social distancing on land which shall be consulted.
 
 
Rosemont will continue to keep you informed of any further developments.
 
Continue to be strong and stay safe!
 
 

05.11.20

For more information or advice, contact Janet Xanthopoulos, Legal Adviser, Head of Yacht & Jet Ownership & Administration Dpt: j.xanthopoulos@rosemont-yacht.com