Seafarers told they were heading home to spend quality time with family have instead been left stranded “like prisoners” in a quarantine hotel after arriving in Scotland hours before exemption rules were updated.
Around 25 workers returning from working off Angola were forced into isolation while colleagues from England were allowed to continue home due to a “ridiculous loophole”.
While the exemption was applied by the UK Government on Friday, it did not come into force in Scotland until 4am on Saturday.
The men’s plight was blamed on the Scottish Government “moving the goalposts” amid new calls for discrepancies in exemption rules for offshore workers to be clarified.
Grant Bowman, 46, from Alness, missed his son Shaun’s 20th birthday yesterday after being told to quarantine when he got back to Scotland on Friday.
Mr Bowman, a subsea engineer, was among a group returning from Angola where they work on an offshore rig.
They flew to Paris on Friday, with some then taking onward flights to Edinburgh and others to London.
‘Held here against my will’
He received a letter from the UK Chamber of Shipping last week stating the UK Department of Transport had announced all seafarers, irrespective of nationality, would be exempt from mandatory quarantine restrictions as of Friday.
The letter states: “Seafarers who have been in Red List countries in the 10 days preceding their arrival in the UK will be able to enter the UK to join their ships, take shore leave and/or return home without the need to spend 10 days in managed quarantine or be tested for Covid-19 after their arrival.”
However, on arrival in the capital he was sent straight to an isolation hotel.
Mr Bowman said: “With my workmate getting into London with all same paperwork it makes me feel I am being held here against my will, when I did all I could to follow the guidelines.
“It seems crazy we are being held here when others can wander home or fly to England and drive home.”
He added: “I’m sitting here and I know for a fact I’m 100% OK to go home, it’s there in black and white.
“From 4am on Saturday there is no reason why I should have to stay in the hotel. I feel like a prisoner.
“I’m missing my son’s birthday. When you work offshore and are away from home you miss things, I accept that. But when it’s for no reason it makes me angry.”
Mr Bowman has been working off Angola for a number of years, and on eight-weeks-on, four-weeks-off shifts since the Covid outbreak.
“We have been quarantining before we go onto the rig, Covid tested before we go out and tested on the way home”, he added.
“I was expecting to have to do 10 days, then on Tuesday received a letter saying that holders of seamen’s tickets like myself are exempt from having to quarantine in hotels in the UK.
“It is very disappointing. Nowhere in any of the forms I filled in did it say that Scottish seafarers are not exempt. The worst of it is I know of people who have been flying into London then driving to Scotland. The loophole is ridiculous.
“When we arrived in Edinburgh they didn’t have much of a clue. They kind of agreed with us but couldn’t let us go.
“It is keeping us away from home for another 10 days. I don’t think it is right. The sign in the airport says UK Border Control, not Scottish Border Control.”
‘I’m hoping that common sense can prevail ‘
Another worker, from Bridge of Don in Aberdeen, says if he had arrived after 4am on Saturday he would have been allowed to go straight home.
He said: “We are stuck here in quarantine for 10 days due to a clerical error on the Scottish Government’s part.
“I’m hoping that common sense can prevail and someone can assist in allowing us to go home as per the legislation that was supposed to have been put in place. At the moment it looks like we’ll have to sit out the 10 days. It’s just not right.
“My colleague and I flew in on the same day to Paris. He took the Heathrow flight and I took the Edinburgh flight. By teatime he was sitting at home with his wife and kids and here I am in 10 days in quarantine.”
He said the workers are confined to their rooms with windows that don’t open and no fresh air.
The worker added: “We have to ask to get out and exercise. It’s like solitary confinement.”
North East MSP Liam Kerr, who called for a review of quarantine rules for offshore workers last week, said: “These workers adhered to clear UK-wide rules only for the Scottish Government to move the goalposts.
“As a consequence, they are now trapped in a hotel for 10 days while colleagues from elsewhere in the UK were free to return home.
“The first minister was urged to look at the inequality this has created weeks ago. The industry and workers are still crying out for clarity.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “It is vital we do everything possible to prevent the importation of coronavirus, and clearly we cannot risk Covid-19 variants from international travel undermining the deployment of vaccines. The clinical advice is clear that a comprehensive system of managed quarantine is essential.
“The UK Chamber of Shipping incorrectly provided advice based on the UK Government’s position without checking the Scottish Government’s position. This gave the misleading impression that seafarers were exempt in any circumstances.
“Seafarers arriving into Scotland from acute risk countries like Angola are only exempt from self-isolation in certain circumstances related to their work, and this amendment did not come into force until 4am on March 20. In this instance, the traveller was correctly advised to enter managed isolation.”
A UK Chamber of Shipping spokesman said: “Seafarers are key workers and have played a vital role in keeping trade flowing over the past 12 months. Advice from the Chamber to our members was correct at the time of issuing. Subsequently, the policy of the Scottish government changed and we have updated our members accordingly.
“We still want to see seafarers exempt from quarantine restrictions and will continue to work with the Scottish government to try and bring their position into line with the rest of the UK.”
Small number of exemptions to quarantine rules in Scotland
Angola is on a list of “acute risk” countries which require incoming travellers to quarantine under Scottish rules.
However, the government’s website says a small number of people travelling directly to Scotland do not need to isolate in a hotel or at home, including those in jobs within sectorial exemptions.
Only a small number of exemptions apply to arrivals from any country, no matter if it is on the acute risk list or not.
It says seamen “do not need to self-isolate provided your travel to Scotland is in the course of your work, with effect from 4am on March 20 this is extended to arrivals from acute list countries”.
Last week North East MSP Liam Kerr called for a review of quarantine rules for oil and gas workers returning from overseas.
He wrote to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, asking for a “reassessment” of the rules.
Mr Kerr said he had been contacted by constituents concerned they are having to spend “75% of their salary” while spending 10 days of their allocated 14 field break days in quarantine hotels after returning from the Middle East.
The government said it had introduced measures for those returning from North Sea platforms via non-acute countries, but there would be no exemptions from those in acute risk countries.