Sailors aboard a Canadian naval ship will be allowed to skip managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) when they visit New Zealand shores next month.

The ship and its crew are coming to this side of the world to take part in cultural, sporting and naval training activities.

The visit – between August 4 and 10 – will be the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that a foreign military vessel will dock on New Zealand shores.

Crew aboard the HMCS Calgary will be able to disembark without having to spend two weeks in managed isolation thanks to the Maritime Border Order put in place to stop the ingress of Covid-19.

Because they have been at sea for 17 days and no new crew members have come aboard, they have effectively fulfilled their 14-day stay in isolation.

But while the 250 crew members will be able to skip the line, they won’t be let ashore before each one of them returns a negative Covid-19 test and health officials verify crew have been symptom-free for a fortnight.

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In a statement, the New Zealand Defence Force said the visit would be in “strict” compliance with the border order.

In April, Royal New Zealand Navy personnel and six family members tested positive for Covid-19 while in Canada.

Of the 103 navy personnel who were in Canada at the time, where frigate HMNZS Te Mana is undergoing a major upgrade, 46 were put into isolation.

But the Defence Force and Ministry of Defence said they have worked with the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian High Commission and New Zealand health and Customs officials to make sure all boxes are ticked.

Rear Admiral David Proctor, the chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy, said ships are a practical representation of the “strong working relationship” between the two countries’ armed forces.

“They are also a demonstration of New Zealand and Canada’s active engagement and presence in the Pacific,” Proctor said.

The HMCS Calgary was on deployment in the Middle East between April and June this year.

The Canadian government announced on Tuesday it would open its borders to fully-vaccinated travellers from August 9.

Americans will be the first to be welcomed in by their northern neighbours. A month later on September 7, the borders will be opened to travellers from the rest of the world.