Seafarer on ship with Filipinos dies of unnamed viral disease

The Granato, where a crewman has died from an unidentified “viral disease.” SHIPSPOTTING PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO — A seafarer on a tanker currently under quarantine at El Ferrol, La Coruña, Spain, has died of an unidentified “infectious, viral disease.” Fourteen seamen are on the ship, including Italian, Indian, Filipino and Romanian nationals.

The crewmen have enough food and have not required any medical assistance since being quarantined, according to a Splash247.com report.

The fatality, an Indian national, was initially thought to have died from a cardiac seizure on August 2, while working as a chef on the 15-year-old Granato, owned and managed by Finbeta of Italy. However, an autopsy revealed the cause of death as a contagious disease. Tests have yet to identify the specific disease.

A Spanish court ordered the vessel to be put under quarantine until medical test results for the remaining seafarers come back from the lab.

The Granato had called at 10 European ports since June, including Rotterdam and Antwerp, and was making its way to the Atlantic Forest chemical plant at El Ferrol, where it was to load methanol.

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