Port Taranaki says the vessel with two positive Covid-19 mariners aboard will not be able to return there.
In a statement released this evening, Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper ruled out a return for the vessel after he says the Ministry of Health wanted to transfer crew to a managed isolation facility from the port.
Roper says Port Taranaki had not been informed by the Ministry of Health about the decision.
The crew of the Viking Bay was meant to dock so they could isolate – but the port says it doesn’t want to put staff and the community at risk.
“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and our response to it, the health and safety of our staff, other port users and the Taranaki community has been our priority,” Roper said.
“We have followed all the Ministry of Health protocols including those for crew transfers, however we believe having the vessel return with known Covid-19 cases aboard is a completely different scenario and puts our staff and the community at a higher risk."
The Viking Bay signed on two infected crew who'd flown to Auckland on Monday and were then driven to join the ship in New Plymouth.
He went on to outline other reasons the vessel isn't able to return.
“As well as the safety aspect, we also have to consider our staff resourcing and customers. We have a limited number of pilots, and the pilot on duty for the vessel’s return would likely be required to self-isolate for a period and therefore be unavailable for routine cargo vessels.
"There is also no certainty about how long the fishing vessel would need to remain berthed without appropriate manning.
“For those reasons we have decided that the vessel will not be returning to Port Taranaki.”
The Covid-positive mariners are part of a group of nine who arrived in Auckland on Monday before being transferred onto a deep-sea fishing vessel in New Plymouth.
Three contacts of the cases have been identified including two people who work at the port and the driver who transported the mariners from Auckland to New Plymouth.
They are currently isolating onboard the ship.
The situation is a low risk to public health due to standard infection prevention controls, according to officials.
"This group was transported from the international airport to the testing site in Auckland in a minibus operated by the national service provider and then to the vessel," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health told 1 NEWS yesterday.
"They stopped off on a second scheduled stop – to use the toilets at a managed isolation facility in Hamilton on the way to New Plymouth."
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