Medical supplies - Informed pharmacies

Medicine chest on board ships 

Under the Royal Decree (RD) of 15 November 2021 on essential resources on board ships, every ship must have a medicine chest on board permanently. This RD additionally defines the conditions that must be met. More specifically, this RD defines the composition of this medicine chest. The RD makes provision for a number of mandatory medicines, medical devices and other products that must be available on board. The products and their quantities depend on, among other things: the destination of the ship, the number and gender of the crew members, the type(s) of work and the nature of the cargo. A full overview can be found in the RD of 15 November 2021(external link).

If a ship is moored in a Belgian port, the captain or his representative can check the composition of the medicine chest, and replenish it, by repurchasing the consumed products, and removing and replacing the unused and expired products. For this, they can go to any pharmacy open to the public in Belgium. The regulations make no distinction between pharmacies. Therefore, any Belgian pharmacy can dispense the same medicines, medical devices or any other products.

Many Belgian pharmacies have already familiarised themselves with the specific legislation concerning the medicine chest of ships and are mentioned in a list intended for the captain or his representative, which can be downloaded below. This list is non-exhaustive and not static and does not limit the competences of unlisted pharmacies. The list of all Belgian pharmacies can be found here (external link). The pharmacy that replenished the medicine chest of the ship in accordance with the RD of 15 November 2021(external link) must issue a certificate to the captain or his representative. A model attestation can be found below. The list of medicines from the RD is also included in publications as well as a checklist by type of ship.