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Three crew members of the container ship Fesco Askold were confirmed to have tested positive for the coronavirus as it arrived in American Samoa's waters.

Before American Samoa's capital Pago Pago, the Cyprus-flagged vessel had sailed from Tahiti to Samoa.

In Samoa, Fesco docked at Apia's Matautu port for less than 24 hours.

According to the local Health Department, strict health controls were followed and no one from the vessel came ashore.

The department said that Samoa remained covid-19 free.

The boat is the suspected source of an infection in a New Zealand port worker.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said all 19 crew aboard the Sofrana Surville have now been tested.

The ship was ordered to anchor off the coast of Mooloolaba instead of docking in Brisbane as planned.

The engineer's strain of Covid-19 had never before been detected in New Zealand, and has not been seen in Australia.