A joint order published today in the Diário da República on the embarkation, disembarkation and land licenses of passengers and crews of cruise ships in ports located in mainland Portugal indicates that the exception to the rule are passengers whose origin is countries to which essential travel is allowed.

Signed by the ministers of National Defence, Internal Administration, Health and Infrastructure and Housing, the order also defines that the verification of the existence of the required documents (Covid EU digital certificate of vaccination, proof of vaccination or recovery issued by a third country or negative test) is the responsibility of the cruise ship owners.

It also defines that the port authority or the terminal concessionaire must ensure, in a space reserved for this purpose, the availability of nucleic acid amplification (TAAN) or antigen (TRAg) laboratory tests for passengers who exceptionally enter national territory without testing, at their expense.

Passengers who need to undergo a test must wait for the result within the port facility, which must be ensured by the port administration.

If the test result is positive, the health authority must be informed and determine the mandatory confinement of the passenger in a health facility or home.

If the citizen is not domiciled in the national territory, he/she must comply with the confinement in a place indicated by the authorities, at the expense of the cruise ship owner, who will also be responsible for the costs associated with feeding the passenger during this period, says the order, which extends to maritime traffic the rules that already covered passengers arriving in mainland Portugal by air and land.

The rules defined in the order are in force from today until 23:59 on March 20, 2022, and may be extended depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation in Portugal.

The obligation to present a negative test for Covid-19 upon entry into mainland Portugal by air ceased to apply from 7 February, after the decision taken last week by the Council of Ministers.