Crew Change Software for Port Agents and Coordinators
Track on-signers and off-signers with flights, hotels, transport, immigration status, documents and costs, inside the port call and its disbursement account.
Who this is for
- You handle crew changes as a port agent, for one or more shipowners or ship managers
- Each rotation means flights, hotels, taxis and immigration steps for every crew member
- Crews come from several nationalities, each with its own paperwork
- Plans change when the vessel is delayed or a flight is cancelled
- The costs of each crew change have to reach the principal's disbursement account
Crew change runs in the background until something moves: the vessel is delayed, a flight is cancelled, a document is missing. Then the agent has to know, for every crew member, which flight they are on, where they are sleeping, who is picking them up and whether immigration is done.
In many agencies that knowledge sits in spreadsheets, WhatsApp groups and a folder per crew member, and the costs reach the disbursement account only if someone links them to the right port call.
In SupaMaritime Agent a crew change is a service on the port call. It lists on-signers and off-signers with their personal, flight, hotel, transport and immigration details, holds the crew change documents and records costs by category. The totals roll up to the crew change service, which you push to the PDA or FDA with the other services.
Where the day breaks down
The status lives in people's heads
Who has a hotel, who still needs a taxi, whose immigration is done: the answers are spread across messages, spreadsheets and the memory of whoever handled the call.
Documents scatter across systems
Letters of invitation, OK to board, passport and visa copies and crew lists arrive by email and WhatsApp and end up in different folders.
Last-minute changes
The vessel is delayed, a flight moves, hotel nights and pick-ups have to change. Without one list, every change is checked person by person.
Costs go missing on the DA
Flights, hotel nights, taxis and immigration fees: some reach the DA, others end up in the agency's general expenses because nobody linked them to the port call.
Several nationalities per rotation
Crew from different countries need different paperwork and processing steps, which makes the status of each person harder to follow.
Hand-offs between parties
The crewing company plans the rotation, the agent handles the port side and the vessel signs the crew on. Each keeps its own records, and details get lost between them.
Built around the workflow, not bolted on top
In SupaMaritime Agent a crew change has its own screen inside the port call: on-signers and off-signers, their flight, hotel, transport and immigration details, the documents and the costs. Bulk actions update several crew members at once, each change is written to the port call timeline, and the cost totals flow into the service you bill on the PDA or FDA.
On-signers and off-signers per port call
Each crew change lists on-signers and off-signers separately, with full name, rank, nationality, date of birth, passport number and notes.
Flight, hotel and transport details
Record flight number, route, date and times; hotel name with check-in and check-out; transport vendor and pick-up time, each with a status such as booked, confirmed or completed. Agent records these arrangements; it does not book them.
Immigration status
Track immigration for each crew member as not needed, not requested, in progress or done, with notes on what is still pending.
Crew change documents
Attach letters of invitation, OK to board, letters of guarantee, passport and visa copies, crew lists and other files to the crew change or to a single crew member.
Costs that reach the DA
Log costs by category (transport, hotels, immigration, agency fee, other) with estimated and actual amounts in any currency. When they share a currency, the totals roll up to the crew change service, which you push to the PDA or FDA.
Bulk updates and timeline
Select several crew members and set their transport, hotel or immigration details in one go. Each change is written to the port call timeline.
Illustrative example: a six-person rotation on a product tanker
A hypothetical product tanker calls at a European port and rotates six crew: three on-signers flying in from different countries and three off-signers flying home. The on-signers need a hotel for one night, all six need transport between the airport, the hotel and the ship, and two of them need immigration formalities. Then the vessel is delayed by a day.
Before SupaMaritime
After SupaMaritime
The crewing company emails the rotation list as a PDF, and the agent retypes it into a spreadsheet.
A crew change service on the port call lists three on-signers and three off-signers with rank, nationality, passport and flight details.
Letters of invitation and passport copies arrive by WhatsApp and email and are saved in different folders.
Letters of invitation, OK to board and passport copies are attached to the crew change or to each crew member.
Hotel and taxi arrangements are tracked in the spreadsheet and in a chat with the taxi company.
Hotel and transport are set for all on-signers at once with a bulk action; statuses show what is booked, confirmed or completed.
Immigration progress for the two crew members is known only to the person handling it.
Immigration for the two crew members moves from not requested to in progress to done, with notes along the way.
When the vessel is delayed, the agent goes through each crew member to see what has to change.
After the delay, the agent updates hotel dates and pick-up times on the same screen, and the timeline records each change.
Invoices for hotels, taxis and immigration fees arrive over the following weeks and are matched to the port call by hand.
Costs are logged by category with estimated and actual amounts; the total rolls up to the crew change service and is pushed to the FDA with the other services.
Facts you can check
Letter of invitation, OK to board, letter of guarantee, passport copy, visa copy, crew list and other.
Transport, hotels, immigration, agency fee and other, each with estimated and actual amounts.
Costs in any currency; invoices and accounts convert to EUR with daily ECB exchange rates.
English, Italian, Spanish, French and German.
Why crew change is harder than most port services
A typical port call has a few principals, a finite list of services and a known set of formalities. Crew change adds people on top of that: several crew members from different countries, each with their own travel, paperwork and timing. The vessel ETA moves, flights move, and the captain still wants the new officer on board before departure.
The work is closer to travel coordination than to the rest of port agency: connected schedules, time-sensitive paperwork and constant last-minute change. What helps most is one place where the status of every person is visible.
In SupaMaritime Agent that place is the crew change service on the port call. Each crew member has one row with flight, hotel, transport and immigration status. When the vessel is delayed, you see everyone affected on one screen and update them there, one by one or with a bulk action. Agent does not reschedule anything by itself; it keeps the plan in one place.
Documents and status that do not live in one inbox
Crew change desks see staff turnover like any other team. When the person who handled a rotation is away, the letters of invitation, the hotel confirmation and the taxi pick-up time should not be stuck in their inbox or on their phone.
In Agent the documents are attached to the crew change or to the individual crew member, the arrangements are recorded on each person, and the port call timeline shows who changed what. Emails to principals and vendors can be written from the port call and are kept in its email archive.
Access follows roles: admins decide what managers, members and viewers can read, create, edit and delete, and users can protect their login with multi-factor authentication.
Getting crew change costs onto the DA
Crew change produces many small costs: flights, hotel nights, taxis, immigration fees, the agency fee. They arrive at different times, often after the vessel has sailed, and each has to be matched to the right port call and principal.
In Agent each cost is logged on the crew change as it is known, with a category, an estimated amount, an actual amount and a currency. When all costs share one currency, the totals roll up to the crew change service; when currencies are mixed, the service shows the breakdown instead of a misleading total.
The crew change service is then pushed to the PDA or FDA together with the other services. The final account can be exported as a PDF, as FatturaPA XML for Italian e-invoicing, or as a CSV of journal entries for your accounting.
Working with crewing companies, travel agencies and the vessel
A crew change involves several parties: the crewing company that plans the rotation, a travel agency that books flights and hotels, sometimes a visa processor, and the vessel itself.
SupaMaritime Agent does not connect to crewing, travel or visa systems, and it has no public API. The agent enters the confirmed details on each crew member and attaches the documents received. Emails to the other parties can be sent from the port call, and vendors can answer quote requests from a link without an account.
For the vessel, the port call's read-only share link shows berths, services and deliveries: the crew change appears as a service line, while the crew list, costs and suppliers are not shown.
How this compares to the alternatives
Used by shipowners and crewing companies for the seafarer database, contracts, certificates and payroll. SupaMaritime Agent covers the port agent's side of a crew change and does not connect to them.
They book flights and hotels. Agent does not book travel; you record the confirmed flight and hotel details on each crew member.
Flexible and familiar. The status of each person, the documents and the costs are kept in different places.
Keep it for your books. Agent exports the final account as FatturaPA XML (Italy) and as a CSV of journal entries; it has no direct connection to accounting software.
Frequently asked questions
What software helps manage crew change logistics?
How can I track visas and crew documents?
Does it book flights or connect to travel systems?
How do I handle last-minute changes?
What is the difference between crew management and crew change software?
How does it handle crews of several nationalities?
Can I use crew change without the rest of the agency platform?
Is there a free plan or trial?
See it in your workflow, not a generic demo
We'll walk through built for crew change coordinators.
Agent has no free plan and no published prices. Paid plans (Starter, Pro with AIS features, Enterprise) are quoted on request: book a demo and we will send you a quote.