THE cargo ship at the centre of a coronavirus scare would now dock in Newcastle on Tuesday, Port of Newcastle said today (Sunday morning).
The ship, the Asphalt Transporter, had been due to arrive in Newcastle at 1.45pm today and tie up at the Mayfield No7 berth on the former BHP steelworks site.
A Port of Newcastle spokesperson said the Asphalt Transporter would now arrive on Tuesday, having left its previous stop in the Philippines on April 7.
Coronavirus restrictions mean vessels are supposed to spend 14 days at sea in isolation between entering ports.
The spokesperson did not say why the ship had been scheduled to arrive today - inside the 14-day period - even though Australian authorities would have presumably known about the illness of its 33-year-old Russian captain, who was taken off the vessel in the Philippines with a serious respiratory illness, as confirmed by the Russian government.
EARLIER
A CARGO ship whose captain was struck down two weeks ago by a life-threatening respiratory illness believed to be COVID-19 is due in Newcastle on Sunday morning (April 19).
Ship-tracking websites show the chemical/oil tanker Asphalt Transporter left Kaosiung in Taiwan on March 31 and was last night off the coast near Brisbane and due to arrive in Newcastle at about 1.45pm on Sunday.
Foreign news reports say the ship's captain, Russian national Alexander Solodyannikov, had experienced fever and coronavirus-like symptoms for four days when authorities were contacted on April 5.
Captain Solodyannikov was taken off the ship in the port of Matai, in the Philippines, and flown to Manilla on April 7, before the tanker resumed its journey to Australia the same day.
The Russian government has thanked the Philippine government for taking the captain and "saving" his life when no other country would accept the vessel because of coronavirus lockdowns.
The Port of Newcastle confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the Asphalt Transporter, was due in Newcastle on Sunday but said it had no jurisdiction in relation to coronavirus.
This lay with Australian Border Force, a port spokesperson said.
An Border Force spokesperson said the usual coronavirus quarantine restrictions, which are based around a 14-day period, would apply, but there was nothing to hand immediately about the Asphalt Transporter.
The on-board drama was made public when the Russian Embassy in the Philippines issued a statement of thanks to the Philippine government for looking after Captain Solodyannikov when "no other country" would let the ship dock.
The statement was posted on the embassy's Facebook page nine days ago, on Thursday, April 9.
"Thanks to the swift and decisive actions of the Philippine government we managed to save a life," the post began.
"Captain Alexander Solodyannikov of the tanker 'Asphalt Transporter', a Russian national, had an attack of an unknown respiratory syndrome.
"The ship's doctor could not help him and amid the COVID-19 scare no country would allow him to enter to be admitted to a hospital.
"The government of the Philippines responded to the embassy's request very quickly despite the lockdown and the quarantine measures and allowed the Captain to be taken off the ship to a medical centre in Metro Manila.
"Things were not looking good for some time, but now Captain Solodyannikov is safe.
"On behalf of his family and ourselves we thank our dear friends from the Philippines for helping us save a life!
'[Signed] Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines Russian Foreign Ministry."
A Philippines news outlet, Inquirer.net, reported on April 10 that the ship had been on its way to Australia when the captain fell ill. He was taken to the city of Matai, in Davao Oriental province, and then to a hospital in metropolitan Manilla.
Another report quoting Philippine maritime authorities said Captain Solodyannikov was 33 years old and had fever and coronavirus-like symptoms for four days before before authorities were alerted.
No further official information was available at 8pm on Saturday night.
It is not known whether port authorities are taking special precautions with the Asphalt Transporter.
Border Force referred the Newcastle Herald to a federal Department of Health fact sheet on coronavirus, which in turn refers to a Department of Home Affairs notice for maritime quarantine matters. Border Force is part of the home affairs department. The home affairs page says state and territory governments may consider exemptions to the 14-day quarantine on a case-by-case basis.
The Herald was told last night that no crew member could leave a ship in port unless specifically authorised by the NSW Police Commissioner or unless there was an emergency as defined in gazetted NSW government coronavirus orders.
NSW Police were enforcing the government's Maritime Order with help from Defence, with personnel manning all occupied berths to ensure that every ship in the port complies with the rules.
The Herald last night saw RAAF personnel in blue camouflage overalls preparing for duty in the port.
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