DEME has hired a ship to ensure the safe changeover of crews onboard dredging and offshore vessels during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The offshore wind contractor is hiring a floating hotel to support quarantine measures from this weekend. It will be moored in Ostend, in Belgium.
The company said that since the end of the coronavirus crisis is “not yet in sight”, it will change crews on dredging and offshore vessels after 17 April.
Returning crews will be in quarantine for two weeks onboard the hotel ship.
Personnel will remain in small groups and will adhere to a “strict scenario”, which allows the separation of the crews of different DEME ships until they leave onboard their dredging or offshore vessel.
“Social contact and activities on board the hotel ship are thus strictly regulated,” DEME said.
As well as mitigating risk of bringing coronavirus onto vessels and preserving the health of its employees, DEME said this strategy also makes it possible to reunite crew members currently onboard for longer than expected with their families.