A call for crew joining boats in NZ waters to come through managed isolation and return a negative Covid-19 test before heading out to sea.
At the moment, health and border authorities are dealing with multiple Covid-19 cases across three vessels.
Two of them had fresh crew fly into New Zealand to join the boats. The crews do not have to go into MIQ on arrival, they are tested for the virus but can join their boat before the results are back.
In the case of the Viking Bay, the two new crew were already on the ship before their positive results came back and the virus spread rapidly.
Captain Iain Macleod is vice president of the Merchant Service Guild, and happens to be in MIQ.
He tells Lisa Owen what the problem is.
He said it's obvious to see what's going wrong.
"I know the (Mattina) container ship in Bluff has come from Fremantle so I presume it had a crew change there and these guys have come onboard with the disease and not done their isolation period.
"So, they've come on the ship, the Australians have said away you go and they've taken their disease and spread it around the ship.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the whole lot of them come down with it," he said.
Macleod said fresh crew arriving in the country should be isolating for two weeks before working.
"As a ship's captain I think it's totally irresponsible, the last thing you need on a ship is Covid, there's not enough people on a lot of these ships and you don't want anyone sick so they should be in isolation and do their 14 days before they join.
"At the end of the day it's to the benefit of all the pilots, stevedores and everybody around the New Zealand coast."
He said the issue had been raised 'early-on' in a working group involving his union, Maritime New Zealand and the Ministry of Health.
However, there had been a lot of 'head-nodding' from the group but Macleod has seen no sign of a response.
Macleod called on the Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins to be more consistent in applying protocols across the different industries that pose a Covid-19 exposure risk.
"I think he needs to be consistent, they need to test everybody, now they test the flight crews but these guys coming in on ships aren't being isolated and aren't being tested, so it's just consistency.
"After 14 days since they departed the last port, the crews should be tested, it frees up Customs and it makes sure that everybody going around the New Zealand coast is safe."
If the government did make it mandatory for seafarers to quarantine on arrival into the country, Macleod didn't expect it would put too much stress on MIQ facilities as most workers are only relieved after six months on the job.
Macleod is having to pay the price for the relaxed rules as he is forced to undergo a 14-day quarantine period in MIQ after coming into contact with an infected seafarer aboard a ship in Lyttelton.
"I could be at home if the ship had been tested so I'm taking up an MIQ room which is sadly needed," he said.
He feared if maritime pilots began to contract Covid-19 from infected seafarers, New Zealand's ports could come to a standstill due to a lack of resources.
Pilots provide ship masters with local information and guidance to help them safely navigate to the wharf.
He said pilots are vital to the shipping industry as vessels are unable to dock without their assistance.
