The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has recently issued Port Marine Circular No.11 of 2026, circulating revised rules for the Maritime Declaration of Health (MDH) for incoming vessels released by Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA)Maritime &.... The new regulations took effect on 30 October 2026, superseding the earlier Port Marine Circular No.03 of 2026.

Under the revised rules, vessels calling at Singapore ports shall submit the MDH mandatorily if any one of the following conditions applies:

The vessel has called at ports of countries listed in Annex A within the preceding 21 days;

Any crew member or passenger on board has visited the aforementioned countries within the preceding 21 days;

There are persons suspected of infectious diseases or human remains carried on board;

Sick persons are present on the vessel.

Ship‑owners and masters are required to submit the MDH together with a full set of supporting documents to the NEA Port Health Office no less than 12 hours prior to the vessel’s arrival in Singapore. Required attachments include crew and passenger lists, copies of valid Ship Sanitation Certificates, a list of the vessel’s last 10 ports‑of‑call, and a name‑list of persons on board with body temperature exceeding 37.5 °C. Should the health status of any person on‑board change after submission and before arrival, ship parties must update the declaration in a timely manner.

Compared with previous versions, the new rules remove the blanket MDH obligation for all arriving vessels. Instead, they adopt risk‑targeted scope definition via a high‑risk country list and specific on‑board scenarios. In addition, it clarifies the itemised supporting‑document requirements, introduces the obligation to dynamically update declarations, and refines the criteria for suspected infectious‑disease cases on vessels without ship doctors, greatly improving practical enforceability.

The circular notes that failure to fulfil declaration obligations constitutes an offence under the Infectious Diseases (Quarantine) RegulationsSingapore .... The scope of mandatory submission may be expanded to cover countries and regions outside the list should the global public‑health situation evolve.

For enquiries, ship operators may contact the Port Health Office at telephone number (65) 6222‑2585, or via email: Port_Health_CRO@nea.gov.sg.