FESCO ASKOLD

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Ship is unloaded by crew

After three crew members from the 'Fesco Askold' tested positive for Covid-19 in Pago-Pago, the ship was sent out of harbour for a few days before being cleared and brought back into dock. However because work normally done by local stevedores was to be handled by the vessel's crew, the process was taking longer than usual. The vessel was likely to be in port for a week. All precautions had been taken to prevent any spread of the coronavirus from the infected crew members. The three were isolated in their cabins while the vessel was in port and their temperatures were taken at least once daily. There were concerns the ship may leave without discharging its cargo and picking up tuna exports from StarKist Samoa for the US which would have resulted in economic strife for the territory and mean food may be in short supply as the holidays approached. The crew of the 'Fesco Askold' was off-loading containers and placing them in an area of the dock where they were decontaminated by the Island Safety and Sanitation company. The 11 employees of the Department of Health and Port Administration who had contact with the infected crew members on its initial visit remained at the quarantine centre in Tafuna and all were reported to be well and showing no symptoms of Covid-19.

Ship held off Pago Pago during disease assessments.

The 'Fesco Askold', operated by the Russian Far Eastern Shipping Company (Fesco) has been linked to a new outbreak of the COVID-19. Samoa and American Samoa were rushing to react to the possibility of exposure to the virus. Officials in Samoa, where there are no active cases of the virus, and American Samoa were seeking to isolate any contacts to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 into the community. The ship departed Oakland, California on Oct 23 for her voyage across the Pacific. She reached Papeete, Tahiti on Nov 3 and then continued to Samoa on Nov 7 and American Samoa on Nov 8. The vessel has been placed in quarantine at anchor off Pago Pago while local authorities completed their assessment of the situation and developed a plan to offload and pick up containers. Authorities in Samoa issued a statement saying that the vessel had been in port for less than 24 hours and followed a strict health protocol from the time it arrived offshore until it departed. Samoa’s health officials reviewed health documentation while the vessel was at the quarantine buoy, about a mile away from Matautu wharf, which was to include negative COVID-19 tests for the 17 crew members on board. During the health inspection, all crew members, including the captain, were required to isolate in a designated room onboard the ship, before the vessel was cleared to proceed to the Matautu wharf. The crew was restricted to stay on their vessel with a guard on the pier while the cargo operations were ongoing. Two days after the vessel departed Samoa in the evening of Nov 9, health officials were informed that at least three crew members aboard the ship were infected with the virus. The positive tests were discovered during a health examination when the ship arrived in Pago Pago. On Nov 10, health officials in Samoa announced a series of precautionary actions to prevent the virus from spreading. A total of 17 people that came in contact with the vessel have been placed in quarantine. This included four people from the Ministry of Health and the Samoa Port Authority as well as 13 stevedores that docked the ship and unloaded the containers. Containers offloaded from this ship were being sterilized. In Pago Pago, the U.S. Coast Guard ordered the ship to leave the dock for quarantine after the positive tests for the virus. The port was closed for 24 hours and steps were taken to “decontaminate the dock in case of any contamination while the vessel was dockside. There have been no reports of community spread of the virus linked to the ship in either country, although officials in Apia have been criticized for their slow response to the notification.

Three crew members tested positive for COBID 19

Three crew members of the 'FESCO Asgold' which berthed in Pago Pago on Nov 8, 2020, tested positive for the Coronavirus. None of them was showin symptoms. All 17 crew members of the container ship were asymptomatic. None of the crew members left the vessel until it pulled out of the port on Nov 9. A meeting was held to decide on loading operations. The cargo included supplies for StarKist Samoa and the outbound voyage includes containers of tuna products for the US market. 11 people were taken into quarantine last night at the Tafuna Quarantine Center, because they went on board the vessel or were exposed at some point to the three crew members who tested positive or those who went on board to do the tests. They included seven DoH personnel who went on board, two lab workers and two Port Administration ship pilots. The port was closed until Nov 10 at 7:30 a.m. All but essential stevedore workers have been cleared off the dock. Port Administration also had only skeletal staff working. Sections of the dock area were being disinfected. Before calling at Pago Pago, the vessel had sailed from Tahiti to Samoa.