KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Eighty-six crew members of an American Seafoods trawler have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a press release from the seafood company Sunday night. Nine tests are still outstanding.The American Dynasty — a 272-foot trawler whose home port is Seattle, WA — had previously reported one crew member tested positive and was admitted to the hospital on Friday, May 29, for treatment. As a result, the company decided to test the entire crew.
The factory trawler was most recently in Bellingham, WA, and has returned to the Port of Seattle where it is currently under lockdown. All crew members are being quarantined and monitored by medical personnel, the press release said.
“The crew has access to any required medical care, and we are thrilled with the support that the agencies we are working with have provided,” said American Seafoods CEO Mikel Durham. “We have also put in place preparedness procedures in the event of a virus outbreak. Those plans are being fully executed right now.”
American Seafoods is based in Seattle and Dutch Harbor and maintains a fleet of six vessels that fish for pollock, hake, and sole out of both the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The American Dynasty can carry a crew of 142, according to the operator’s website. It was last in Dutch Harbor for one day on March 31.
According to Durham, all crew members were screened and tested for COVID-19 antibodies and viral infection before they boarded the vessel. Only those who tested negative for the virus were cleared to board.
The company is cooperating with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Seattle/King County Health Department, Whatcom County Health Department, and the Port of Seattle, according to Durham.
