Russian sailor dies in Lyttelton of ‘natural causes’

A Russian sailor has died on a trawler in Lyttelton harbor from “natural causes”.

The sailor received an exemption to travel to New Zealand and had spent last week in Lyttelton after finishing his administered quarantine in Auckland.

The man did not stay at the Sudima Airport Hotel in Christchurch, the center of a Covid-19 outbreak among other foreign sailors.

Independent Fisheries managing director Mark Allison told the Herald that the death appeared to be from natural causes.

“We’re not sure what the sequence of events is around that, but it appears to be from natural causes,” he said.

The man had been on the boat for just over a week, Allison said.

“The first thing was to make sure that the family of the deceased is informed and cared for, and just make sure that the crew is settled.”

The family was in the process of being contacted.

Meanwhile, today more than 200 sailors from Russia and Ukraine left the Sudima Airport Hotel in Christchurch for their vessels after spending 22 days in controlled isolation.

A final health examination was conducted prior to departure.

Thirty-one of the 235 people who flew in from Moscow tested positive during their stay and were taken to quarantine. As of Friday, 24 people had recovered and were allowed to leave.