Covid 19 Coronavirus: Hundreds of Small Yachts Trapped in Limbo as Cyclone Season Approaches

More than 300 yachts are stuck in limbo in the South Pacific as cyclone season approaches, unable to dock in New Zealand due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) says it has written to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Chris Hipkins several times, asking for help with no solution to date.

The group says the developing situation has reached a critical point and the yacht crews urgently need shelter from the cyclone season that begins Nov. 1.

Fiona Jones, OCC Indo-Pacific coordinator, said she was desperate to find a solution for crews in the Pacific.

“My husband and I sailed on our yacht to New Zealand in 2006 and we were welcomed everywhere we went,” she said.

“The hospitality provided to us in remote areas of South Island and Stewart Island will never be forgotten.”

Since then, two of her children and six grandchildren have become New Zealand citizens.

“None of us want Covid-19 cases to reach New Zealand.”

Guy Chester, OCC Roving Rear Commodore, said they had been working with the Association of Marine Operators and Sail South Pacific to ensure that secure Covid-19 protocols could be in place for arriving yachts.

“With passages of 2-6 weeks, the crews have been in quarantine during that time anyway.

“They are prepared to isolate themselves aboard their yachts once they enter New Zealand and have an agreed protocol to ensure there is minimal risk to the New Zealand community.”

Sail South Pacific’s John Martin has been working with Northland Marinas to ensure that self-isolation on board can be safely performed.

Martin was organizing the Destination NZ rescue to coordinate the staggered arrivals of the flotilla from French Polynesia and Fiji if New Zealand provides waivers.

Martin said: “The yachts accept that they need to have strict quarantine and medical records while at sea and track their route by satellite to demonstrate their continuity of passage (hence quarantine time).”

According to the website of the Ministry of Health, foreign vessels cannot reach the country unless they have an exemption.

A ship may also be exempt if the Chief Health Officer, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, has granted permission for humanitarian reasons or other compelling needs.

“For clarity, humanitarian reasons or other pressing needs are unlikely to include situations related solely to financial losses or to vessels traveling primarily for pleasure or convenience, such as tourists or ‘spending the winter’,” the website says.

“People on boats traveling to New Zealand to ‘overwinter’ (e.g. to avoid the Pacific hurricane / cyclone season) may have other genuine humanitarian reasons or other compelling needs to come, which would have to be demonstrated to make these vessels qualify for an exemption. “