10 Aug 2021

'Without hesitation test the lot of them' - union calls for tighter rules at ports

From Checkpoint, 5:39 pm on 10 August 2021

There's a call for crew onboard foreign ships to be tested for Covid-19 before they dock in New Zealand ports.

More than 90 workers at Tauranga port were originally stood down and told to get tested after spending time on the container ship Rio de La Plata which was carrying crew infected with Covid-19.

The Rio crew members were eventually tested but only as of entry requirements for Napier - where the ship was headed next - those tests revealed 11 of those on board were positive.

Captain Iain MacLeod is vice president of the Merchant Service Guild that represents pilots, deck officers and masters.

He tells Lisa Owen "without hesitation test the lot of them" as it is done in Napier.