Singapore is preparing to house foreign workers such as those employed at offshore and marine yards, in two moored flotels as the coronavirus rampages through their usual dormitories where it is not uncommon for personnel to sleep 12 to a room.

These foreign workers will be required to undergo health checks before boarding the newly moored flotels. Two offshore accommodation units have initially been contracted as the government moves to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

One of the units is believed to be the Floatel Triumph, which had last worked on Inpex’s Ichthys project off Australia. The flotel now moored at the Tanjong Pagar terminal in Singapore, had spent the last months idle off Johor in Southern Malaysia with reduced crew awaiting its next assignment.

The Floatel Triumph accommodates 500 people in one and two-bed cabins and has large recreational areas, including mess and day rooms, gymnasium, internet cafe and cinema, according to Swedish owner Floatel.

It is unknown whether only one worker will be housed in each of the two-bed cabins during the coronavirus outbreak.

Keppel Fels built this semi-submersible accommodation unit at its yard in Singapore and the flotel was delivered in September 2016.

Bibby Maritime is providing the second flotel, perhaps the 159-cabin Bibby Progress that was last located off Malaysia, although exactly which unit could not be confirmed at the time of publishing.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is working with terminal operator PSA Singapore, Keppel Offshore & Marine, Bibby and The Ascott to manage the two facilities.

National Development Minister, Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-agency taskforce tackling the coronavirus outbreak in Singapore, on Thursday said that healthy foreign workers would be moved from dormitories to other housing, including flotels, to prevent them from contracting Covid-19 from infected colleagues.

"All foreign workers will have to go through the necessary health checks, including swab tests, before boarding the floating accommodation,” an MPA statement quoted by the Straits Times read.

“They will also have to follow strict public health measures, such as minimising interaction with other occupants."

Isolation facilities will also be set up, the authority added.

Coronavirus

Singapore workers moving to flotels to halt the coronavirus spread