ANTWERP - A pilot who visited the ship Minerva Oceania to lead it to the port of Antwerp appears to have become infected with the coronavirus. This is reported by the Maritime Services and Coast Agency. The ship has been in quarantine in the Leopold dock for several days now because 15 of the 26 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. However, when the pilot arrived on the ship, the outbreak was not yet known.
"We deeply regret this but were prepared for the situation", the agency states Friday. "All colleagues with whom this person has been in contact were informed personally and will also stay home preventively. We will wait for the other test results, but we will not fail to take action there as well".
The agency states that sufficient pilots are still at work and therefore there is no impact on shipping traffic to and from the port.
A second pilot also visited the ship in question, but that person shows no symptoms for the time being. He will stay in home quarantine for two weeks, just like his positively tested colleague
The big questions
The Flemish pilots are worried. Some of their colleagues have piloted a ship on which, it turned out, fifteen crew members are infected with corona. Do they now also have Covid-19? Did the captain of the Minerva Oceania, who is now in quarantine for fourteen days, lie about the state of health of his crew? This needs to be investigated very carefully.
"We deeply regret this but were prepared for the situation", the agency states Friday. "All colleagues with whom this person has been in contact were informed personally and will also stay home preventively. We will wait for the other test results, but we will not fail to take action there as well".
The agency states that sufficient pilots are still at work and therefore there is no impact on shipping traffic to and from the port.
A second pilot also visited the ship in question, but that person shows no symptoms for the time being. He will stay in home quarantine for two weeks, just like his positively tested colleague
The big questions
The Flemish pilots are worried. Some of their colleagues have piloted a ship on which, it turned out, fifteen crew members are infected with corona. Do they now also have Covid-19? Did the captain of the Minerva Oceania, who is now in quarantine for fourteen days, lie about the state of health of his crew? This needs to be investigated very carefully.
