COVID-19 case on Capesize Bulker "Vega Dream"

October 12, 2020

Tokyo - The "Vega Dream"(174,713MT, built July 2010) owned and managed by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Junichiro Ikeda) with a crew of twenty, has COVID-19 cases onboard, at Port Hedland, Western Australia. Among the twenty crew members, seven have been tested positive, in which one is currently isolated at the Hedland Health Campus, and the remaining six with no symptoms are isolated onboard. The other thirteen crew members, also showing no symptoms of COVID-19, have tested negative.

Among the seven crew members that have tested positive, one has boarded on August 13, and six have boarded the vessel on September 24, which is the latest crewchange for the vessel. All crew members have boarded in compliance with the Department of Transportation in the Philippines, Protocol for Crew Change and Repatriation, as well as being quarantined and tested negative in the Philippines prior to joining the vessel.

The vessel arrived in Port Hedland, Western Australia on October 3, berthed on October 10, and completed cargo operation on October 11. She has currently unberthed and anchored off Port Hedland.

Our thoughts are with the health of our crew members, their families and friends, the medical professionals and care givers. We will be informing updates on the situation.

We highly appreciate the swift and humanitarian support by the Australian Department of Health, AMSA, Hedland Health Campus, Pilbara Ports Authority, and the local community involved. We will continue to fully cooperate with all concerned parties and take all precautions to avoid the spread of the virus.