Explainer: How a Covid-19 carrying ship docked in NZ, and why workers were let aboard

Two Covid-19 scares in less than a week involving the same ship at New Zealand’s busiest port.

Confusion. Then relief. Now, concern. And anger.

Close to 100 port workers in Tauranga were isolating on Monday awaiting test results after 11 crew members on the Rio de la Plata container ship tested positive for Covid-19.

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The Singapore-registered ship – now at sea off the coast of Tauranga – was sitting at the city’s port for more than two days last week and it was initially announced that 94 port workers spent time on the vessel during that period.

The Rio de la Plata was initially given the okay to berth in Tauranga on Wednesday. Then it was suddenly shut down that same night. Then it was given the all clear again the next morning. And now, half of its crew have tested positive for Covid-19.

Yes. No. Yes. No.

The confusion surrounding this ship began early last week and came to a head on Monday morning.

By Monday evening, Stuff was reporting that 87 of the port workers that boarded the ship were unvaccinated.

The overall number that had spent time on the ship had also jumped to 98, and the Government said they were all being urgently tested.

Crew members on the boat had tested positive for the more-transmissible Delta strain of Covid-19.

The early signs were good, however – it was confirmed on Tuesday morning that 65 of the 98 workers had all tested negative, but the remaining tests were still outstanding.

Nine of the workers were fully vaccinated, and two had a single dose of the vaccine.

The past week leading to this point has involved a series of events and decisions that Wayne Butson, general secretary of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, has called “deplorable”.

Butson said 67 of his union members boarded the Rio de la Plata while it was in Tauranga. He had spoken to a number of them “and they’re just beside themselves”.

“This is as close as you could ever get to a case study in bureaucratic incompetence,” he told Stuff.

The following timeline, which Stuff has pulled together from official statements and several interviews with people involved, begins last Tuesday – August 3.

Port receives alert – August 3

The Port of Tauranga received an alert on August 3 from Maritime NZ that the Rio de la Plata had been boarded two weeks earlier by an Australian ship pilot who had recently tested positive for Covid-19.

The pilot was on board the Rio de la Plata from July 21 to July 23 while the ship was in Australian waters, he then developed symptoms and tested positive for Covid-19 nine days later (also confirmed to be the highly infectious Delta variant).

In the meantime, however, the Rio de la Plata had made its way to Tauranga from Australia.

By the time the Port of Tauranga received the Maritime NZ alert, the Rio de la Plata was at anchor, waiting offshore in the Bay of Plenty.

By 5pm the next day – Wednesday, August 4 – the ship with the Covid link was making its way into port.

Maritime NZ, after issuing the initial alert, had later cleared the Rio de la Plata for pilot boarding.

The Medical Officer of Health at the local public health unit – Toi Te Ora – had also cleared the ship to berth, as part of the normal ‘free pratique’ process.

Rio de la Plata berths in Tauranga – August 4

A Port of Tauranga ship pilot boarded the vessel at sea about 5pm that Wednesday evening and brought it into the Tauranga Container Terminal.

By 6pm, it had berthed. Port workers then swung into action.

“So the lines gangs handle the ropes to tether it to the land, and the stevedores climb on board to undo the lashings on the containers and so on, and work begins,” Butson told Stuff.

But that work didn’t last long.

About 9pm – three hours later – stevedores on board the Rio de la Plata were unexpectedly told to stop working and to go home and isolate “immediately”. The pilot was told the same. They were told to await further instructions.

Customs NZ, in conjunction with the local public health unit, had suddenly shut down operations on the ship.

Operations shut down – August 4, 9pm

Later asked about the shutdown, Robert Smith, Customs’ maritime group manager, said “standard maritime border protocols were observed” based on information received by Customs.

“We continue to work with other agencies to ensure communities remain protected from Covid-19 entering through our maritime border,” he said.

When approached for comment about its role in that decision-making last week, Toi Te Ora Public Health – the local public health unit – referred Stuff on to the Ministry of Health.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the ministry had previously been made aware of the link between the ship and the Australian pilot who had tested positive for Covid-19.

“Given the number of days since the pilot had been onboard the ship and the fact that he was not onboard during his infectious period, it was deemed extremely unlikely that he posed any risk to the ship’s crew. Australian health officials have confirmed the pilot posed negligible risk to the crew.”

So why, then, was the ship shut down on the Wednesday night at 9pm? What new information did Customs and the local public health unit have?

The ministry spokesperson said: “Based on early information, the local public health unit requested a halt to the unloading of the ship and directed port staff unloading the ship to isolate at home until further instruction.”

The spokesperson said this action was taken “from an abundance of caution”.

And yet by the next morning – Thursday, August 5 – that decision had changed again.

Rio de la Plata given the all clear – August 5

Butson told Stuff that clearance for work to resume on the boat came “out of nowhere” on the Thursday morning and no testing had been done at that stage.

“So clearance is given to work the boat, the stevedores are told that they can return to work and there’s no need to isolate any more. And later that afternoon, while they’re working the boat, three nurses in full PPE go onto the boat to do swab tests on the crew.”

The Ministry of Health spokesperson said the local public health unit, after receiving “more complete information” on the Thursday morning clearing the ship of any concern, allowed unloading to resume and port staff were advised to return to work.

In that statement on the Thursday evening, the spokesperson said the ministry now considered the risk to be minimal and none of the crew onboard the ship were symptomatic.

“The ministry is thanking the port staff for their assistance in the matter. The ministry acknowledges that the situation may have been frustrating for some staff, however it is essential we move quickly based on the information available to manage risks to ensure Covid-19 does not enter our community.”

A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman also said on Thursday that Government agencies had clarified the situation and the public health unit had advised the port that operations could resume on the vessel and there was no need for workers to isolate.

“Everyone in contact with the ship has been wearing PPE and no one on board has any symptoms,” she said.

“Port of Tauranga’s primary concern is for the port workers and health of those on board the ship. This has been a very unsettling, stressful and frustrating situation for the workers involved and we will be working with Government agencies to ensure this situation can be avoided in future.”

Relief. A close call. Then the Rio de la Plata continued to be worked on until it left port on Saturday, August 7, at 2pm.

Meanwhile, public health staff were taking test swabs in Tauranga from the crew of the Rio de la Plata as part of the requirements for its entry into Napier – its next port of call.

It is not clear when these tests were taken and when the results were returned.

‘They’re just sh....ng themselves’ – August 8

Butson said after working on the Rio de la Plata last week, the port workers went on with their lives as normal over the weekend – attending sports games with their kids, going to family events and shopping malls, some members even left town and went to other cities and towns in New Zealand.

“And then on Sunday night they start getting contacted and told they have to report to work at 9am to be tested. And so they’re just sh....ng themselves,” Butson said.

“They’re frightened. They’re frightened that they may be positive, but they’re more frightened that they may be the cause of infecting other people and vulnerable people in their own families of course. And so it’s very traumatic.”

He said the port workers are “really, really angry” about what happened.

“You’ve got to ask the question: If there were all these concerns, why was the boat given clearance to work, before the test results had come in?”

Butson said: “Something’s gone wrong here.”

He added: “The last thing we need in this country is that bloody Delta variant.”

Ministry announces positive Covid-19 cases – August 9, 8am

About 8am on Monday morning – August 9 – a surprise press release was sent out by the Ministry of Health, with the heading “Container ship at sea off Tauranga tests positive for Covid-19”.

Testing had returned positive results for 11 of the 21 crew on board, with one test result indeterminate.

News headlines flashed across screens all around the country and one man in Tauranga clicked on a link that appeared to concern him directly.

The man, who spoke to Stuff on Monday from home where he was isolating, worked on the Rio de la Plata at the end of last week, after the ship was temporarily closed down on Wednesday night.

He had no interaction with the crew while on board the vessel. He said the headquarters of the ship was roped off and all crew were standing back two metres whenever a port worker approached.

“I didn’t interact with anyone, I didn’t cross paths with anyone … but you don’t know who’s been touching things beforehand.”

The man said he was not deeply concerned, but felt communication could have been better.

He wasn’t aware of Wednesday night’s temporary closure when he boarded the ship later in the week, and said he only found out that crew members on the ship had tested positive for Covid-19 when he read an article online on Monday morning.

The man said he and his family members had all been vaccinated, and he was getting a test on Monday.

“It’s not a scare, but it just sort of plays in the back of your mind. We take precautions. In terms of PPE, we’ve got gloves, we’ve got masks on.”

Stuff also spoke to Craig Harrison, national secretary of the Maritime Union of New Zealand, on Monday morning. He heard about the Covid-19 cases on the radio.

Harrison questioned why health authorities didn’t err on the side of caution, considering the initial concern and the fact crew were being tested.

“And wait until all the test results are in before anyone worked [the ship]. I don’t understand that,” he told Stuff.

Harrison said incidents like this create “a real concern” and he had a lot of sympathy for the 94 port workers who spent time on the ship.

“Because they’ll be waking up, probably hearing the same report on the radio, and now their families will be worried, they’ll be worried, it’s pretty disconcerting.”

Harrison said people only have to look at what is happening in New South Wales and other parts of Australia with the highly infectious Covid-19 Delta variant, “if it unleashes in one of the major ports in New Zealand, it’s got the ability to cripple the economy”.

Precautions and a nervous wait

The hope now is that the Delta variant has not crossed from the crew members of the Rio de la Plata to the port workers in Tauranga.

A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said on Monday that the port treats all vessels as if they have Covid-19 on board and all port workers who interacted with the ship followed the usual Covid-19 precautions, including physical distancing and wearing PPE.

All workers who boarded the ship were self-isolating and being tested for Covid-19, and would stay isolated until they received a negative test.

“Cargo loading and unloading at Tauranga Container Terminal will operate at reduced levels whilst we work through this situation.”

The spokeswoman said: “The health and safety of port workers, their families and the community are our top priority. We will continue to follow all advice and directions of public health authorities.”

The Ministry of Health said on Monday that it was likely that at least some of the 11 crew were active cases of Covid-19 and further test results would help determine how many were historical cases and no longer infectious.

The ministry also said no crew members of the Rio de la Plata came port-side while the ship was being unloaded in Tauranga.

“Some workers will require a second test, based on their contact with the ship, and will be required to remain in isolation until the result of those second tests are known.”

All eyes will be on those test results.