An officer of a Cosco Shipping ultramax died this weekend in Turkey.
But Chinese sources believe the report that the ship's master died of coronavirus are false, and that the stricken crew member died of malaria contracted in Guinea.
According to local sources, health officials at the port of Istanbul reported that the master of the 63,300-dwt Feng De Hai (built 2015) passed away while the ship was at the Bosphorus anchorage. The body of the deceased was removed from the ship and the laden ship was cleared to proceed to Ukraine.
Sources in China said today that the deceased crew member was a second officer.
The ship had been underway from Guinea for just under three weeks before the master's death. The officer's name could not immediately be learned.
China Cosco Shipping was aware of the report, but had no immediate comment on the death, pending its own enquiries.
"This accident is still being investigated," a Cosco Shipping press spokesman in Shanghai told TradeWinds. "What you have heard may not correspond to the real situation, because it is not so clear at this moment."
Officials of the Guangzhou-based China Shipping Bulk arm of the group referred all further enquiries to the parent group's Shanghai headquarters.
Vessel tracking services report that Feng De Hai arrived at the anchorage in the early morning hours of Thursday, 26 March and proceeded through the straits after midnight on Saturday, 28 March.
As of Sunday night the ship remained off Dneprobugsky in Ukraine.
No information was available on the state of health of other crew members on the ship.
"The vessel was immediately quarantined by the sanitary office and the body of the deceased landed ashore for further delivery to this family," wrote an official of Istanbul based port agency Tribeca Shipping in a message that has been made available to TradeWinds.
Tribeca Shipping officials told TradeWinds that not they but another agency handled the vessel at Istanbul.
"The vessel owned and trading under Chinese Cosco Group [sic] was in northbound transit from Guinea to Ukraine and once all related formailities completed at Bosphorus anchorage she was allowed by [harbourmaster] to sail to Dneprobugsky, Ukraine," wrote the port agency official.
[The article has been updated to reflect reports that deny the Turkish port agent's report of coronavirus.]
