Three ships operating in different parts of the world are
all reporting cases of food poisoning among their crew. At least two crew
members have died while others have been transferred from their ships and
hospitalized. It might be coincidental or an outbreak of the more common
norovirus, a common gastrointestinal disease, but it rarely causes deaths.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Maldives reported the
first cases at the beginning of February. A 22,641 dwt Thai bulk carrier, the
Lanna Nare, was sailing from Australia to Sri Lanka on a voyage that was
continuing to San Juan, Puerto Rico with a crew of 18 on board.
The vessel changed course and requested medical assistance
from the Maldives, arriving in Male on February 9. With the coordination of the
Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo, 13 sick crew members were transferred to a
hospital where it was determined that they were suffering from food
poisoning. The ship’s cook reportedly
died while in the Maldives.
The Ministry reported that it assisted with a crew change
facilitating the 18 crew members returning to Thailand and a new crew arrived
for the vessel. The Lanna Nare departed the following day on February 11 while
the authorities continued to investigate to pinpoint the cause of the food
poisoning.
Around the same time, a Singapore-flagged bulk carrier, the
Thor Magnhild, arrived at Trois-Rivières, along the St. Lawrence River in
Canada also requesting medical assistance. The Canadian health authorities
reported that 17 crewmembers were being treated with gastrointestinal disorders
but did not specify the cause. While registered in Singapore, the vessel has
recently been sailing between Brazil, the Caribbean and Canada.
Last Friday, February 19, a third vessel, a smaller cargo
ship, the 1,963 dwt April registered in Panama and operating on the Black Sea
also requested medical assistance. Again, they were reporting that the crew was
suffering from poisoning. At the time, the vessel was heading towards Turkey
when they reported that five crew members were ill and one died. Russian
authorities attempted to evacuate the ill crew but due to bad weather the ship
was anchoring.
Officials from Rosmorrechflot later reported that they
suspected food poisoning as the cause of the illness after ruling out other
causes including a possible chemical leak or cargo fumigation. Alcohol poisoning was also mentioned as a
possible cause. In this latest instance, two crew members reportedly were not
ill and the authorities were looking to differences in their activities versus
the crewmembers that became ill.