SEOUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Sixteen COVID-19 cases were found from a Russia-flagged ship docked in a southeastern port of South Korea, the country's health authorities said Tuesday.

Of 21 sailors aboard the 3,401-ton refrigerator vessel, 16 tested positive for the COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, a South Korean control tower to tackle the COVID-19.

The Russia-flagged ship, which had departed from Russia's Vladivostok, arrived at a South Korean southeastern port city of Busan on Friday and has been docked at a Gamcheon Port in the city since Sunday morning.

The Busan authorities were informed that a captain, who had got off the Russian ship in Vladivostok, tested positive for the COVID-19.

South Korean quarantine officers got on the vessel and found three crew members who showed symptoms, before letting all sailors take tests for the virus.

Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director general of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, told a press briefing that no report was delivered to the health authorities though three sailors with high fever were on board, saying it will take action in accordance with the quarantine act.

Kwon added that no report on the captain who tested positive was delivered from the Russian side.

Because of the absence of the report, about 170 port workers came into contact with the sailors of the Russian vessel to help unload luggage and repair the ship. All of them have been in isolation.

In the latest tally, South Korea reported 46 more cases of the COVID-19 for the past 24 hours. Out of the new cases, 30 were imported from overseas. Enditem

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