Crew welfare needs to be considered in Viking Bay case

The Mar­itime Union says prob­lems with quar­an­tine for sick crew mem­bers aboard the Viking Bay show process­es need to be tight­ened up.

The Viking Bay has COVID-19 pos­i­tive crew mem­bers on board off Tarana­ki, but Port Tarana­ki refused per­mis­sion for the ves­sel to return port.

Local polit­i­cal fig­ures also backed the deci­sion.

The fish­ing ves­sel has now been giv­en per­mis­sion for quar­an­tine anchor­age off­shore in Auck­land har­bour by Ports of Auck­land.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Craig Har­ri­son says the sit­u­a­tion could eas­i­ly occur again.

He says the sit­u­a­tion is not so straight­for­ward as to sim­ply deny ships access to ports.

“New Zealand has oblig­a­tions under inter­na­tion­al mar­itime agree­ments and basic human­i­ty to assist ves­sels and crews who are in dis­tress.”

Mr Har­ri­son says that crews are com­ing into New Zealand on inter­na­tion­al ves­sels all the time, and New Zealand had a respon­si­bil­i­ty to ensure their wel­fare.

“If it was not for sea­far­ers, New Zealand would not be get­ting very many imports or exports. They should not be put in dan­ger.”

He says that the key here was a bet­ter pro­to­col and process around how to deal with this sit­u­a­tion.

He says the Min­istry of Health, ports and mar­itime author­i­ties need to be com­mu­ni­cat­ing.

Mr Har­ri­son says the Mar­itime Union has been in con­tact about the Viking Bay with the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers Fed­er­a­tion, the glob­al union fed­er­a­tion which rep­re­sents fish­er­men around the world.

He says ITF inspec­tors have spo­ken to the own­ers, who are in con­tact with the ves­sel.

The COVID-19 pos­i­tive crew mem­bers were self-iso­lat­ing on board and did not have symp­toms.

Mr Har­ri­son says the Mar­itime Union and ITF would con­tin­ue to check on the wel­fare of the crew and would advo­cate for them if required.