Do vessels via Malaysia need to be quarantined?

Excessive quarantines inconvenience overseas vessels calling at the Port of Pusan even though on board quarantines are usually in place on vessels going through polluted areas.

The ISAAK (International Shipping Agency Association of Korea) Pusan Agency sent an official protest letter to the Pusan National Quarantine Station (PNQS), claiming that excessive quarantine have activities prevented overseas vessels from keeping their schedules by quarantining vessels that pass through polluted areas such as Malaysia.

The association asked a few questions about Malaysia such as: What is the legal ground for Malaysia to be decided upon as a quarantine necessary area? What kind of work do they do in on board quarantine? What do vessels need to do to be exempt from quarantine? Is quarantine really necessary for the vessels to call at other ports after Malaysia?

The association pleaded that even though the World Health Organization (WHO) didn’t designate Malaysia as a polluted area, the PNQS is still inconveniencing vessels hailing from Malaysia by requiring them to be quarantined. This could be a reason for overseas shipping companies to move out of the Port of Pusan, said the association.

Regarding these questions, the PNQS responded that vessels from polluted areas must be quarantined, including vessels from potentially polluted areas. This is to prevent the spread of epidemics such as cholera. Especially, Malaysia, along with neighboring countries, should be considered potentially polluted areas because of their geographical location and subtropical climate. Although no epidemic has come out of Malaysia in the past few years, it was regarded as polluted area prior to 2000. Therefore, according to the PNQS, when vessels via Malaysia enter into the Port of Pusan less than a week after leaving, they should be quarantined regardless of which areas they go through.

The PNQS said that epidemics can hugely damage a nation’s man power and material resources. Caution cannot be emphasized enough, it added.

Recently mega-carriers such as Maersk-Sealand and Evergreen moved their hub ports from the Port of Singapore to the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Southeast Asia. Accordingly vessels via PTP are gradually increasing. Neighboring ports in Hong Kong and Taiwan aren’t requiring extra quarantine measures for vessels via Malaysia.

The PNQS is requiring quarantine for vessels that have passed through WHO designated contaminated areas within seven days. The WHO announces contaminated areas quarterly.