Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the country’s lockdown for a further two weeks. The move casts doubt whether around 20,000 crew members whose employment contracts have expired will be able to return home.

As TradeWinds reported, the country's Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) recently announced a standard operating protocol which outlined the quarantine and Covid-19 testing procedures required for Indian seafarers to return to India or to join ships from India.