TimesLIVE can reveal that 14 of the crew have been isolated pending the results of Covid-19 testing.
This comes as the Indian subcontinent has emerged as the global pandemic epicentre and is reporting more than 300,000 new Covid-19 cases a day. The new cases and associated fatalities are largely driven by the B.1.617 variant.
On Tuesday, port authorities were informed to halt all operations and interaction on the vessel — which had been transporting rice.
A senior port official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least 200 port employees had been working on the vessel since Sunday evening.
“The ship arrived on Sunday night at around 8.30pm. One of the crew members had died during the voyage and we were told that it was of a heart attack. This morning we were informed by health officials to stop all operations with the vessel. The captain of the ship remains on board but 14 of his crew were taken away for testing.”