MV Caroline Voyager Departs Japan; Crew to Face 14-day at-Sea Quarantine & Additional 14-day at-Anchorage Quarantine Prior to Arrival in the Community

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FSM Information Services

Press Release

MV Caroline Voyager Departs Japan; Crew to Face 14-day at-Sea Quarantine & Additional 14-day at-Anchorage Quarantine Prior to Arrival in the Community

 

PALIKIR, Pohnpei—On November 4th, 2020, the MV Caroline Voyager, a vessel of the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), departed Japan from the Port of Osaka for return to the Nation. The vessel had previously arrived in Osaka on August 26th for necessary maintenance.

 

The crew of the MV Caroline Voyager, as essential employees, are not considered by the Government as equivalent to private citizens undergoing repatriation; however, the Government is committed to ensuring that the return of the MV Caroline Voyager and her crew are held to the safest and most airtight standard possible.

 

All of the crew were tested for COVID-19 twice on September 29th to October 1st, 2020, and again on October 28th to 29th, 2020, and had since been held in strict quarantine/confinement on the ship without any outside contact from September 29th (a month prior) until the time of departure on November 4th. All crew tested negative for the virus.

 

It is expected that the MV Caroline Voyager will enter into the FSM on November 18th, 2020, where it will arrive at the pilot station outside the Pohnpei State main vessel entry channel for a medical briefing and further COVID-19 testing. The crew will then be tested again on November 26th, and for a final time on December 3rd. Presuming that all crew remain COVID-19 free at that time, the crew will then be released into the community and, by extension, able to visit their friends and family before the Government requires the vessel undergo its next field trip requiring their services.

 

His Excellency David W. Panuelo, President of the FSM, wrote a letter to the Honorable Reed B. Oliver, Governor of the FSM State of Pohnpei, et al., detailing these efforts. The letter may be found here: https://gov.fm/files/November_5_2020-Gov_PNI_Return_of_Caroline_Voyager_Vessel_from_Japan.pdf