Family’s quarantine nightmare

Isaac Vincent will soon turn 9 years old and has his heart set on his dad being there for his birthday.

Seafarer Josh Vincent is currently thousands of kilometres away on a ship in the Mediterranean.

And after struggling to secure a spot in New Zealand’s overloaded Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) Booking system, the dad of two is losing hope he will make his son’s special day in October.

The former Royal New Zealand Navy serviceman says the situation is so bad he is considering giving up the career he loves.

“The government already recognises foreign seafarers but returning Kiwi seafarers are not. The system does not recognise seafarers’ unique situation and makes it very hard to continue employment.

“We are taxpayers and NZ citizens and yet we are forgotten. Should we give up our jobs just because the government is unable to provide capacity in MIQ?

“I’ve literally checked it [the MIQ booking system] thousands of times. I can log in and put in my passport details and all I see are the next few months greyed out with crosses.

“There is just nothing available and it’s incredibly frustrating.

The Blenheim dad, who is fully vaccinated, has spent 12 years working as a seafarer, spending three months at sea and three months at home.

He has completed two stints in MIQ in Auckland, including Christmas Day last year, making it home to his family on Boxing Day.

But while he usually books his return trip before going offshore, this time it proved impossible.

His wife Natasha says the couple’s two children are missing their dad more as they get older.

“It’s horrible, a really horrible situation. We are used to him going away however not knowing if he will be able to get home is really stressful.”

“He’s missed out on birthdays; he’s missed out on Christmas. We’re discussing him coming home to work because it’s so difficult getting back into the country.

“Isaac knows his dad was going to come back for his birthday but he understands that might not happen now.”

Josh says the government is not taking the predicament of seafarers and their families seriously.

“If you don't have a great internet connection and free hours every day, you will never have a snowballs chance in hell at getting an MIQ slot.

“The list has been empty for weeks now and looks to continue this trend with extra capacity now needed for returning travel bubble kiwis from Australia.”

Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith, who has been looking into Josh’s case, says that the government are unwilling to help.

“There are a whole lot of these cases and we are advocating on their behalf but unless you happen to be a Fijian person with Covid and have connections to the UN you won’t get in.

“They [the government] are not utilising the spaces that are available and the system that they have for booking is ripe for manipulation.

‘People like Josh are vital to driving the wheels of commerce and unfortunately are not considered by the government to be worthy. We will keep advocating for them.”

Josh says he is desperate to get back home and is angry more isn’t being done to help.

If he must pay more money to secure a spot, then he happily would, he says.

“We all pay the $3100 so surely this money can be used to increase capacity?

“I and other seafarers I’ve spoken to would happily pay ahead of time, or “The government is not doing the right thing by us and in the longer term, not doing right by all of NZ - who will form the essential shipping industry once all seafarers return to land-based jobs because it's too hard to operate in this environment?

“We are deeply frustrated and increasingly angry at being forgotten.”