This crew experienced our FREE! Coastal Welcome Services just the way we designed it for their convenience! The ship's 3rd mate made an advance booking (up to 24 hours) before vessel arrival in Singapore for 6 crew via this link. The ship was expected to arrive at 3.00am and they requested a pick-up time for 10.00am. They wanted to go ashore to try some yummy local food,, do some shopping, get some SIM cards and do some sightseeing.
I had received their booking the night before. And I also received their confirmation message via Whatsapp on our ILSM Duty Phone (+65 8686 7423) after vessel arrival (Very important message! Otherwise their advance booking would be cancelled!).
So, at about 9.30am, I drove to Pasir Panjang Terminal and arrived at the ship stern at 09.55am. All 6 crew were on time and hopped into my SUV, which can carry a maximum of 6 passengers.
We drove from the vessel to the Immigration Office for crew clearance. They presented a hard copy of the ICA Approval Letter and the approved crew list (Form 22), their original passport and the completed e-SG Arrival Card (done online). While they did this, I drove out of the Terminal to the main road and waited at an area about 50 metres on the left of the Immigration exit point.
After the smooth Immigration clearance, they walked out to the main road, turned left, saw my car 50 metres away on the left side, and hopped into my car again.
After some discussion, they decided that they would visit Mustafa Centre for some shopping and local food this time round. I also suggested that in future, they could visit other places of interest as well.
So we started our drive along the West Coast Highway and continued onto the East Coast Parkway (ECP), cut through the Marina Boulevard zone before entering the Bugis area, and finally turning into Little India, where Mustafa Centre is located. Along the way, we talked and I also gave some description of Singapore's city landscape.
Upon reaching Mustafa Centre, I quickly found a spot to temporarily park my car and all of us hopped out of the car to take this wonderful photo!
The 6 crew will have about 2.5 hours of shopping and exploring the area (their total shore leave time is about 4.5 hours!). I wanted to give them some privacy to do their own things. So I gave them instructions on how to get back to the Terminal and bade them goodbye!
It was a wonderful experience helping them know Singapore a little better, without losing their precious shore leave time fumbling with navigating around Singapore.
I am sure they look forward to exploring more of Singapore each time their vessel comes here, and we will be most glad to host them again!
So, even if only have 4-5 hours of shore leave, we will be happy to show you around Singapore. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates on our services!
They well deserve the break and our hospitality, because God cares for all of us, and we should learn to look out for one another!
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