May 4, 2001 - Clearing out of the Andamans

Clearing out of the Andamans can be done in one day if you have all your ducks in a row -- and the ducks have the proper stamps! However, it is best to allow two days. The current order of procedure:

1) Go to Port Control, who will make out a listing of each anchorage you visited, when you arrived, when you left. It helped that I had kept a precise radio log of our check-ins daily. Armed with this list, you next visit the...

2) Port Management Board, who takes the list and calculates your port fees according to which places listed are "ports". (The Cinque Islands??? come on...) Number of ports, times (gross tonnage times US$.25), plus a charge of Rup 32 per day for 31 days. Our bill came to US$67.65. You will be given a Letter of Port Compliance to take to Customs.

3) Customs fills out a bunch of forms for departure. They were out of their "Request for Clearance" form, and I had to copy -- in longhand -- another yacht's form, putting in our particulars. Your Port Clearance is good for about 24 hours.

4) Immigration will want your original arrival paper from their office, and will want a copy of the customs clearance, and your passports, which they will stamp out. You are then done with the paper work, but...

5) Port Control will need the PC number when you call them to ask permission to leave. They make a phone call to verify, then send you on your way. We requested departure at 5:30am on a Sunday morning. There was no way they had time to talk to anybody before giving us the green light.