A fishing vessel carrying 16 mariners with Covid-19 is now expected to arrive in Christchurch on Sunday as officials prepare for what could end up being a taxpayer-funded stay in quarantine.
The Playa Zahara started to head from Taranaki to Christchurch on Thursday and the Ministry of Health later confirmed 16 of its 18 crew had Covid-19. On Friday, the ministry confirmed three crew members had the highly infectious Delta variant.
Genome sequencing showed the variant not linked to any previous confirmed Covid-19 cases in New Zealand or to another fishing vessel, the Viking Bay, that had Covid-19 cases. The Playa Zahara crew tested negative before entering New Zealand and again before boarding their vessel.
Once the ship arrived in Christchurch, 13 of the crew members, including the two who tested negative, would enter quarantine.
READ MORE:* Ship carrying confirmed Covid-19 cases to dock at Christchurch port* Covid-19 results due today for Spanish fishing crew that docked at Port Taranaki for tests* Spanish fishing vessel to await results of Covid-19 tests offshore Port Taranaki* Covid-19: Viking Bay ship expected to dock next week, unwell crew to be transferred to managed isolation
The ministry said the risk to the public was low.
The Spanish-flagged ship was not fishing in New Zealand waters and was initially heading to Taranaki to change crews. The current crew had Covid tests on Tuesday after 15 reported recent flu-like symptoms.
Health officials said after discovering the virus had spread quickly through the foreign ship, we felt it was the best course of action to take to offer managed isolation and quarantine [spots].
The crew of fishing vessel, Playa Zahara have all been tested for Covid-19 with 15 of the 18 crew members having recently suffered flu-like symptoms.
As of 6.30pm Friday, MarineTraffic.com showed the vessel was about 45 kilometres north of the Lyttelton Harbour mouth.
The ship was expected to dock at Lyttelton Port on Sunday, a spokesman for the harbourmaster said, although this was yet to be officially confirmed. It was earlier reported the ship would arrive on Friday.
The harbourmasters office and Lyttelton Port Company were working on a plan to bring the ship into the port. Extra perimeter fencing had gone up at the port and Customs would be there when the mariners arrived.
Normally a pilot would go on the ship to guide it in, but that would not happen in this case due to the risk of exposing the pilot to the virus.
Deputy chief executive of MIQ Megan Main told RNZ the mariners will likely stay in the Sudima Hotel near Christchurch Airport.
Health officials confirmed the mariners would be taken to the Sudima Hotel near Christchurch Airport, which had a dedicated quarantine wing with 28 rooms.
All plans for the health, transportation and security of the mariners were in place with minimal risk to the public, they said.
Due to Section 4 of the Health Act (Quarantine), the mariners were not liable for the charges of staying in MIQ.
A spokesman for Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said they would be talking to the shipping company about a contribution towards the costs of staying in quarantine. Health officials said they were also talking to the shipping company about this.
Nationals Covid-19 response spokesman, Chris Bishop, said the mariners should pay for their stay, not the Government.
The Sudima Hotel in Christchurch is one of the citys six MIQ facilities.
Bishop’s comments also referred to 15 mariners from a different foreign ship, the Viking Bay, who were quarantining in a Wellington MIQ facility.
The Sudima Hotel, where the 13 Playa Zahara mariners would likely stay, was the same facility where 235 Russian and Ukranian fishermen stayed in October. An outbreak there infected 31 of the fishermen and two health workers.
Part of the official blame for that outbreak was placed on the Sudima Hotel’s poor ventilation.
Main said more had been learnt about how Covid-19 spread since that outbreak. Ventilation at the Sudima Hotel had been reviewed, and there were now air filtration units in the hallways.
All quarantine rooms were now negative pressure too, which reduced risk of the virus spreading to a hallway when a room was opened, she said.
Once the Playa Zahara arrived in Lyttelton, five of the crew, who were at the end of their Covid-19 infections, would remain on the vessel to maintain its safety. They would have health checks each day.
The ship was believed to be carrying tonnes of fish. The Ministry for Primary Industries said the catch would stay on the vessel and did not pose any concerns.
The current crew arrived in New Zealand on June 18, spent two days in MIQ, and then boarded the Playa Zahara after testing negative.
Fishing industry organisation the Deepwater Group earlier questioned why a foreign-flagged fishing vessel not connected to New Zealand was allowed to dock in the country.
* CORRECTION: A spokesman for Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins (not for Nationals Chris Bishop as stated earlier) said they would be talking to the shipping company about a contribution for quarantine costs. (Amended July 16, 2021, 9.35pm.)
