Chinese vessel at Vizag port, crew free from Corona virus

Visakhapatnam: A Chinese vessel with an all-Chinese crew called on Visakhapatnam port on Wednesday morning. The authorities immediately sent a medical team headed by a senior medical personnel, Dr Kranti, to check the crew members. After screening them for over two hours the medical officer found they were free from the Corona virus.

A senior port official said merchant vessel Fortune Son arrived from Singapore port at about 8.31 a.m. on Wednesday to take a load of alumina powder. The port authorities immediately sent a medical team to screen all the 21 member of the crew, including the captain. "Since they boarded Singapore 20 days ago, their chances of contacting the virus was remote. Had they been sick in Singapore, they would not have been allowed to sail to India,’’ the official said.

However, the crew members were not allowed to leave the port and enter civilian area. Normally, they get a visa from the immigration office located in the port premises but after the virus scare the authorities have decided not to allow them outside the port. The loading will take three days after which they will sail back to China, he said.