Port access and passes
Getting into a restricted area
It is the first thing we are asked and the thing nobody documents. Here is what to know before planning anything — including if you are working with a contractor other than us.
The lead time is the constraint, not our availability
A port access pass is named: it is applied for, for one person, one area and one period. It is not lent, not transferred, and not issued on the morning itself. The application goes in several working days ahead, and the lead time varies with the area, the time of year and the volume of applications in hand.
In practice: an application filed the day before a port call will not clear. It is the number one reason a job fails, far ahead of any technical problem. A firm that promises you on-board work within forty-eight hours, without knowing whether your operatives already hold passes, is telling you a story.
What has to be prepared
Full identity details for each operative, the exact period, the area concerned, the purpose, and the principal supporting the application. Depending on the area, a background check and security clearance may be added, which lengthens it accordingly.
The company's insurance certificate and, for an industrial site, the site safety plan signed with the facility manager. For work on board you also need the ship's agreement relayed by the ship's agent: a port access pass gets you into the area, not onto the vessel.
Escort, and what triggers it
Some areas and some berths require an outside operative to be accompanied at all times. The escort is requested at the same time as access, it ties up someone from the site or the terminal, and it governs the real start time.
It is not a formality: with no escort available, work does not start, even with every pass in order. It is the single commonest reason a start slips, and we check it before confirming a date.
Named
One pass per operative, for a given area and period.
Lead time
Several working days. The lead time that counts is the port authority’s.
On board
Access to the area is not access to the ship: you need the ship's agreement.
Escort
Depends on area and berth. With no escort available, nothing starts.
What we will not do
Nobody gets anybody in without a pass. We work around no access procedure and we do not work with those who offer to: the liability would fall on you as much as on us.
Check a lead time with us