RADIO QUARANTINE REPORTS FROM SHIPS AT SEA - UK PUBLIC HEALTH (SHIPS) REGULATIONS

The Public Health (Ships) Regulations specify that no person other than a pilot, customs officer, immigration officer or port health officer shall board or leave a ship which is required to obtain free pratique for health clearance on arrival in the United Kingdom from a foreign port, without consent of the port health Authority.

A Master of a ship is required to report to the Port Health Authority not less than 4 hours and not more than 12 hours before arrival at a UK port from a foreign port: 

    a) the occurrence on board ship before arrival of 

        i. the death of a person otherwise than as a result of accident, or 

        ii. illness where the person who is ill has or had a temperature of 38oC or greater which was accompanied by a rash, glandular swelling or jaundice, or where such temperature persisted for more than 48 hours, or 

        iii. illness where the person has or had diarrhoea severe enough to interfere with work or normal activities; 

    b) the presence on board of a person who is suffering from an infectious disease or who has symptoms which may indicate the presence of an infectious disease. 

    c) any other circumstance on board which are likely to cause the spread of infectious disease and 

    d) the presence of animals or captive birds, and the occurrence of mortality or sickness amongst such animals or birds.


A vessel requiring health clearance should show by day the international flag signal QQ, or by night a red light over a white light about 2 meters apart visible all around the horizon. The Master may be required to complete a Maritime Declaration of Health and should also have ready for the port health officer a list of passengers and crew leaving the ship together with the addresses they are going to in the United Kingdom.

The Lowestoft Port Health Authority can be contacted through a shipping agent or the port radio should be able to provide a direct contact. A Medical Officer or other officer of the PHA will board and grant health clearance when there has occurred on the ship any of the circumstances in either (a), (b) or (c) above.

Officers of the Authority work very closely with officials from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in carrying out the role of health educators amongst visiting seamen, often during inspections of vessels to advise on infection control in relation to a number of infectious diseases.

Additional advice and guidance on infectious disease control is available from several sources including the UK Health Protection Agency (http://www.hpa.org.uk ), the World Health Organisation (WHO) website (http://www.who.int/en/), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) websites in the USA (http://www.cdc.gov/), and the Pan America Health Organisation (PAHO) website (http://www.paho.org/).

If you plan on travel and want more information on infectious diseases and other health matters please visit the National Travel Health Network and Centre website(http://www.nathnac.org/).

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