The container ship, the Fesko Askold, has 17 crew on board.
It arrived in Pago Pago on Sunday afternoon and sailed out of the main harbour at nine yesterday morning.
It remains about eight kilometres from shore.
American Samoa's COVID-19 task force chairman Iulogologo Joseph Pereira said this would allow local authorities to complete their assessment of the situation and come up with a plan to offload and pick up containers.
He said steps had been taken to decontaminate the dock in case of any contamination while the vessel was dockside.
