Lyttelton harbour. Photo / NZ Herald
A Russian mariner has died on a fishing trawler in Lyttelton harbour of "natural causes".
The mariner was given an exemption to travel to New Zealand, and had spent the past week in Lyttelton after finishing his managed quarantine in Auckland.
The man did not stay at the Sudima Airport Hotel in Christchurch, the centre of a Covid-19 outbreak among other foreign mariners.
Independent Fisheries managing director Mark Allison told the Herald the death appeared to be of natural causes.
"We're unsure what the sequence of events around that is but it appears to be by natural causes," he said.
The man had been on the vessel for just over a week, Allison said.
"The first thing was to make sure the family of the deceased is advised and taken care of, and just make sure the crew are settled."
The family were in the process of being contacted.
Meanwhile, today more than 200 mariners from Russia and Ukraine left the Sudima Airport Hotel in Christchurch for their vessels after spending 22 days in managed isolation.
A final health screening was conducted prior to departure.
Thirty-one of 235 people who arrived on flights from Moscow tested positive during their stay and were transferred to quarantine. As of Friday, 24 people had recovered and were cleared to leave.
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