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- The criminal case against the skipper of the virus hit Indian-bound cargo vessel that berthed at Gqeberha harbour with 14 Covid-19 positive crew members, has been dropped.
- Port health services opened a case against the vessel master after he failed to disclose that there was a sick person on board.
- The M/V Consolidator vessel sailed from Mombasa in Kenya on 13 April 2021 and arrived 12 days later at the Gqeberha harbour's Berth No. 9 on 25 April to load manganese ore.
The criminal case against the skipper of the virus hit Indian-bound cargo vessel that berthed at Gqeberha harbour with 14 Covid-19 positive crew members, has been dropped.
This was according to Eastern Cape police on Tuesday.
The M/V Consolidator vessel sailed from Mombasa in Kenya on 13 April and arrived 12 days later at the Gqeberha harbour's Berth No. 9 on 25 April to load manganese ore.
It was destined to leave Gqeberha for Visakhapatnam in India, but was confined into quarantine following the positive results.
Police previously told News24 they were investigating a case of fraud and contravention of the Disaster Management Act after the vessel master allegedly submitted a falsified certificate declaring all crew on board healthy.
READ| Criminal cases opened against skipper of a virus-hit Kenyan cargo ship that docked in Gqeberha
However, on Tuesday, police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said:
Naidu said the National Prosecuting Authority dropped the case.
NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani could not respond immediately to questions. Her comment will be added once received.
Port Health Services, which initially opened the case, said the vessel applied for permission to enter port and in the application, the master had declared there was no illness on board and based on that information, Port Health granted the vessel permission.
Port Health Services further said, when the vessel subsequently arrived and berthed in Gqeberha, the master did not declare there was a change in the health status of the crew and the vessel.
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A day later, port authorities received information that there was a sick crew member aboard the vessel and that the vessel master was withholding information.
More people working on the ship were found to be positive after port authorities commissioned tests.
According to Port Health Services, the vessel operations were ceased, the gangway was raised and a guard was placed at the vessel to ensure that there was no unauthorised access to and from the vessel.
This is because the vessel is a bulk carrier and to properly load manganese ore, this required local personnel to board the vessel to assist with the process.
Meanwhile health authorities confirmed that 11 crew members out of the 22 crew who were part of the ship, were still in isolation.
ALSO READ | Cargo ship from India quarantined in Durban port after 14 crew test positive
The rest had departed to their countries of origin.
The health department said on completion of the decontamination, the vessel was assigned a completely new 22-member crew and had been cleared to commence operations in the port.
The department said: "Eleven crew are in the isolation facility awaiting their return to their home countries."
