Suspected COVID-19 seaman aboard foreign vessel brought to country

A suspected COVID-19 seaman aboard a vessel owned by a Liberian company, was brought to the Colombo Harbour by Sri Lanka Navy this morning for treatment, the Navy said.

The MSC Lanka (Private) Limited, the local agent of the container ship MSC Taranto, has made a request to the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 to get the seaman disembarked in Sri Lanka for treatment after he was found to be a suspected COVID-19 patient.

"Accordingly, with the approval of the Ministry of Defence and direct guidance of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Sri Lanka Navy made prompt action to bring ashore the 36-year-old Philippine national named Solis Ryan," the navy said.

The Navy's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Unit approached the container ship which was about five nautical miles off the Colombo harbour and brought the ill person ashore by following necessary guidelines declared by health experts.

Subsequently, the patient was disinfected on the harbour premises itself before rushing him to the Colombo National Hospital by ‘Suwasariya’ ambulance service.

Sri Lanka Navy, in collaboration with the Suwaseriya Ambulance Service, Ports Authority and a number of other agencies had conducted drills to rehearse Standard Operational Procedure that could be adopted in the event of transferring a suspected COVID 19 contracted patient at the port of Colombo.

"Thereby with the assistance of Suwaseriya Ambulance Service, Ports Authority and the Navy managed to execute this task in a successful manner," the Navy said. (Darshana Sanjeewa)