Postby Country_Bookie » October 18th, 2014, 3:02 pm
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Trinidad Express) — Ocean Discovery, the vessel that was denied permission to dock at Crew’s Inn in Chaguaramas Thursday because of Ebola concerns, was given clearance to dock on Friday morning, but remained moored off Chacachacare, off Trinidad’s north-western peninsula.
The United Kingdom-registered vessel had docked at Pointe Noire in Republic of Congo on September 13 and ten days later it docked at the port of Sekondi Takoradi in Ghana before sailing into Trinidad and Tobago waters on Thursday.
Ghana is fairly near to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, three of the countries that have accounted for the majority of the Ebola deaths that has climbed to more than 4,400.
Ghana, however, has no reported cases of the virus to date.
Immigration sources and customs officials said because of the Ebola threat in West Africa, they had refused to allow the ship, carrying cargo and passengers, to dock on Thursday.
However, Customs sources told the Express yesterday: “Ministry of Health workers boarded the vessel late Thursday evening and after conducting routine medical tests for Ebola on the 19 crew and passengers and interviewing them, immigration officials today gave the ship clearance to dock at the port.”
Sources say most of the persons on board were from Panama, Europe and the US, with just one or two of them from Africa.