June 4, 2020 — Seattle-based American Seafoods, after most of the 126-person crew aboard its American Dynasty tested positive for COVID-19, has decided to screen the crews of two additional vessels.
The new round of testing involves the crews of the American Triumph and the Northern Jaeger as they dock in Bellingham, according to a company statement.
“We’re conducting these tests out of an abundance of caution,” said Mikel Durham, the company’s chief executive.
All three of American Seafoods’ vessels had been participating in the Pacific whiting harvest off the Northwest coast with large crews onboard to operate the vessels and equipment that processes and freezes the catch. Their work often entails long hours of close-quarters labor in a season that started last month.