Viking-Bay

The New Zealand Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre has announced that the search for a Galician sailor, the chief engineer of the 'Viking Bay', who went missing from the longliner based in Vigo on Dec 27,, has been suspended. All search resources, including vessels and aircraft, have been withdrawn. A P-8A Poseidon aircraft from the Royal New Zealand Air Force was deployed to conduct a search on the afternoon of Dec 28, 2025, and two merchant ships joined the search on Dec 29. The missing man, who despite residing in O Cabalo (Beluso, Bueu) was originally from the parish of Ardán, in Marín, was last seen on the afternoon of his disappearance. It was the crew who noticed that the man from Bueu was not on board. The captain issued a mayday call, with a radius of 300 miles, and reported that he was turning back to retrace his route. The SAR area fell within New Zealand's assigned territory. The 'Viking Bay' had departed from the port of Suva, Fiji, on Dec 24th to fish, where it had been since Dec 16t. It holds a fishing permit from the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and was targeting swordfish and shark.

More than $60,000 due from the 'Viking Bay', whose crew had to complete MIQ in Wellington hotel, has been paid. The company Copemar owed the New Zealand Government $62,000 in costs associated with quarantining 18 of the ship’s 20 crew – 15 of whom were infected with Covid-19. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment invoiced Copemar – the agency that owns the vessel – on Aug 13. The payment was due on Nov 11, and was paid on Nov 12. After fishing crews in New Zealand did not have to pay their quarantine costs, the Government decided the companies would be responsible for the partial costs of MIQ, with taxpayers covering the difference. The 'Viking Bay' pulled into port at Wellington on July 12, with two confirmed cases of Covid-19 onboard. The crew members who had tested positive had been picked up in Taranaki, after leaving a quarantine facility. After it was decided to bring the ship back into New Zealand, rather than risk a humanitarian crisis and multiple medical evacuations in international waters, the ship docked under strict security at Wellington’s Queens Wharf. The ship was ordered to fly the yellow international quarantine flag, and the 20 crew members were tested for the virus. The testing found a further 13 had been infected – many for the more infectious Delta variant. All but five of the crew (including two close contacts) were transferred to Wellington’s Grand Mercure hotel to complete their managed isolation-quarantine. Those who stayed behind on the vessel were tasked with its maintenance, during its three-week stay in the capital.

Three more Covid-19 cases have been confirmed aboard the 'Viking Bay', which is docked in Wellington, on July 18. The three extra cases were confirmed by the Ministry of Health among 10 new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation. The three will serve their quarantine aboard the ship along with one other, who remains uninfected.

The remaining four crew members of the 'Viking Bay' underwent a second Covid-19 test on July 15. So far 16 of the 20 crew members were in MIQ at Grand Mercure in Wellington. 15 have tested positive for Covid-19, and one, who was transferred to MIQ after becoming unwell, has now returned a second negative test. 13 have the highly-infectious Delta variant. The vessel docked at Queens Wharf on July 12.