A team of doctors are helicoptering to a ship off the coast of Napier to test the crew members for COVID-19.
The 21 workers onboard the Ken Rei ship are close contacts of the marine electronics engineer who tested positive on Saturday.
The man had worked on the Ken Rei in the past fortnight and the ship has been kept offshore until the crew members are tested for COVID-19.
The Hawke's Bay District Health Board confirmed doctors will be landing on the Ken Rei on Thursday afternoon, weather permitting.
They have spent the last two days in safety training in preparation.
Medical officer of health Rachel Eyre said the medical professionals had been contracted by Ken Rei's charter company to test and collect COVID-19 swab tests from the crew members on board.
She said it was a private agreement and the testing was not a requirement from the DHB or Ministry of Health.
But from a public health intelligence perspective, the results would be useful information, Dr Eyre said.
The Ministry of Health will be informed if any of the workers test positive for COVID-19.
This comes after there were renewed calls for the crews of foreign ships to be tested for COVID-19 before docking in New Zealand.
Maritime Union national secretary Joe Fleetwood said it's extremely important, given Saturday's case.
"You've got a port worker which comes into contact with a foreign seafarer on board and if they just so happen to have the virus then that's the point of infection," Fleetwood said.
"It should be mandatory for foreign crew to be tested as well - it's madness that they're not."
