There are hopes a freighter detained in Fiji because of Covid-19 will still reach its remaining Pacific customers in time for Christmas.
The MV Island Chief was detained after two crew returned what the operator, Matson, said were “weak positive results”.
The ship is due to call into Samoa, Tonga and Niue.
Matson general manager Greg Chu said the top priority was the health and safety of personnel and the communities they served.
In a statement, he said: “We appreciate the care that’s being taken to protect everyone concerned and to verify the test results in a timely manner”.
Once it gets to the other destinations, the MV Island Chief will need to be cleared by local health officials.
The ship’s supplies for Niue are particularly important for the island because it has so few vessels calling in.
Niue Premier Dalton Talelagi said: “Niue is waiting to see how the situation in Fiji progresses… we are hopeful that it will be resolved before Christmas as it would be unfortunate if the boat is unable to get here. Our priority remains the health and safety of our people”
Swansons Supermarket on Niue has seven containers of product on the boat and its manager, Amanda Pita, said she was confident it would arrive in time, but that their cashflow would probably be affected because the goods had been prepaid.
