Ship returns straight to Cape Town after positive Covid tests

MFV Edinburgh July 2021 voyage curtailed

Report from Tristan Administrator Steve Townsend

MFV Edinburgh departed Cape Town on 9th July 2021 with six passengers on board and arrived at Tristan on Monday 19th July. All the passengers were tested for Covid-19 when the vessel arrived, and before any disembarkation started. Two passengers tested positive. Further tests confirmed those results, and a number of the Edinburgh’s crew also tested positive for Covid-19.

The four passengers who tested negative, including two islanders, came ashore and have gone into isolation. The barge crew who went out to off-load the passengers were wearing full PPE kit, and all the luggage brought ashore was cleaned down by the island doctors and me.

The ship then returned immediately to Cape Town without any off-loading of supplies.

Please see Steve Townsend's separate Coronavirus report for full details of the medical situation and the effect of precautions on island life.

MFV Edinburgh off Tristan on 19th July 2021

MFV Edinburgh off the settlement on 19th July 2021. Photo: Post Office & Tourism.