The MV Tug Clyde and Barge Claudia from Indonesia with crews positive for COVID-19 arrived in Albay on Tuesday morning.
According to information released by the Office of Civil Defense Bicol from the Philippine Navy, the ship arrived at 4:45 pm and is now anchored about a kilometer away from Lidong port in the town of Sto Domingo.
The ship was closely monitored because 11 of the 19 crew on board tested positive for COVID-19.
The barge was loaded with 8,000 metric tons of steam coal.
A crew member who also tested positive for COVID-19 was first dropped off in Butuan City.
There is no confirmation yet if they are Delta-variant carriers.
According to Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Bicol Regional Director Marlon Loterte, the crew can no longer leave the barge.
“Yung tug boat po ang magsisilbing quarantine area nila. With provisions naman po ng mga kailangan nila galing sa owner o company ng vessels,” he said.
The crews are all asymptomatic. However, if they develop symptoms and become severe or critical, they will be taken to the ship for confinement.
Barge from Indonesia with COVID positive crew arrives in Albay
He also said that there is an investigation to determine why the vessel could travel to Albay even though the crew’s RT-PCR test did not have any results.
“Nakunan na din sila ng samples noong nasa Butuan for whole-genome sequencing to determine the COVID-19 variant,” said Loterte.
The Maritime Security and Monitoring Team of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Station Albay ensured that no vessels could approach the ship and no crew could disembark to control the spread of the virus.
Part of the team is a PCG medical officer to provide medical assistance if needed by the crew.
In preparation for the “worst-case scenario” against the spread of the Delta variant in the Philippines, Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar alerted all police commanders and the PNP Maritime Group to guard the country’s backdoor against incoming Indonesians and Malaysia to make sure we don’t get through there.
According to the PNP chief, the Delta variant is now a serious problem in neighboring Indonesia, so intelligence monitoring and patrol on the country’s southern border should be tightened.
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