WILLWATCH

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Attempt to repatriate crew again

After being scuppered by red tape and mechanical delays, fishing company Sealord’s second attempt to bring the crew of the 'Will Watch' home from Mauritius was set for take-off. The seven Kiwi crew have been fishing on the vessel since February, catching alfonsino and orange roughy in the Southern Indian Ocean and were due to come home in April. However, the emergence of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns in New Zealand and Mauritius thwarted those plans. The crew stayed on to do a second trip while Sealord looked at options for a crew change over. Unfortunately, the jet aircraft scheduled for the first leg had engine issues and Sealord was unable to secure landing permissions in Mauritius due to these delays. Four weeks later with many options explored, Sealord’s fishing operations team in Nelson came up with an alternative plan that meant the crew can get home to New Zealand early next week. Plan B involved using neighbouring Reunion Island as the target destination for the crew change, which had thrown up its own logistical challenges. The best option was an aircraft based in Sydney, which resulted in a longer 11 hour flight to Reunion from Sydney. Booking the bigger aircraft, capable of increasing flying time, added around $50,000 to the cost of the trip, taking the total cost to $385,000. While all these logistics were being worked through, the crew stuck in Mauritius decided to go back fishing rather than wait in port. On Sep 20, 2020, the crew will head to Reunion to meet the Sealord-chartered jet with the new crew. The crew returning to New Zealand was scheduled to arrive in Christchurch at 2.30 p.m. on Sep 22, for two weeks quarantine before they can go home. One crew member had agreed to stay for another trip after Sealord failed to secure a transit visa through New Zealand for a Fijian engineer to replace him.