Eight crew on cargo ship showing signs of Covid-19, including one who is ‘very unwell’

Eight crew on-board a ship off the coast of Australia have Covid-19 symptoms, including three who will need to be taken to the mainland for treatment.

Three crew members on-board a cargo ship, who are suspected of being sick with Covid-19, will be evacuated from the vessel to be treated at a Perth hospital.

The West Australian Health Department said in a statement that the bulk carrier Darya Krishna would berth at Fremantle Port soon for a medical emergency evacuation.

“The three crew will be transferred to Fiona Stanley Hospital by St John Ambulance Covid-19 dedicated vehicle and special operations crew,” the department said.

“All Covid-19 protocols and procedures will be followed.”

The remaining 17 people on-board the vessel will also be tested for coronavirus.

Eight people on-board the Darya Krishna have Covid-19 symptoms.

Earlier, Premier Mark McGowan said eight crew were suspected of being infected and described one of them as “very unwell”.

“He is a second officer on-board, so they’ll have to work out how to get him off and get him into some sort of medical care,” he told reporters on Monday morning.

Mr McGowan said the priority was to get the remaining crew tested and try to keep them on-board the ship.

“The idea is we keep them on-board the ship to recover,” he said.

The vessel has crew who are mostly from India and the Philippines.

The ship sailed towards WA from Singapore on July 18 but had previously docked in Indonesia on July 8.

The BBC California is another virus-infected ship.

Meanwhile, the BBC California still has eight sick crew members, with two others recently recovering from the virus.

Health authorities confirmed on Sunday that the crew had contracted the Delta strain.

The BBC California departed Egypt last month and then travelled to ports in Indonesia before reaching WA waters.

Crew members are believed to be from the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

Mr McGowan said he hoped the BBC California would sail away in the “coming days”.

The Premier also reiterated that shipping companies should make sure their crews did not go on shore at Indonesia ports.

“That’s something the shipping companies need to action immediately ... I spoke to the prime minister about it,” he said.

“The Commonwealth is working with the shipping companies to put in place protocols.”

Similar action was taken last year with the Philippines.

Originally published as Eight crew on cargo ship showing signs of Covid-19, including one who is ‘very unwell’