On Sunday 10th January a sick Filipino seaman was brought into the Port of Gibraltar from the CAPITAN VASSILIS, a Greek ship on its way from the Ivory Coast to Romania. Sadly, the seaman died before he could be treated at St Bernard’s Hospital. The death of the seaman is now a matter for the Coroner.

As a precaution the incident was treated as if the seaman had a potentially infectious disease. Immediately afterwards the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service personnel who had manned the ambulance followed mandatory decontamination drills and, as a routine safeguard, they are now under the supervision of Infection Control staff. In line with established protocols, all relevant vehicles and equipment have been decontaminated as precautionary measures.
The Gibraltar Maritime Administration has been informed and the ship’s next port of call will be made aware of the relevant facts, as is good practice.
The Govt statement issued today says that ‘the public can be reassured that the GFRS, GHA and Port Authority followed all safety protocols which are laid down for incidents such as this. HM Government stresses that these protocols are purely precautionary and that there is absolutely no cause for any concern. In line with its own procedures, the Port will carry out an investigation of the incident.’