Thousands stuck on cruise ships off Oz

Perth, March 25

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Thousands of passengers on three cruise ships were stranded off Australia’s west coast on Wednesday as officials refused to let them land to avoid repeating the “utter disaster” of a previous cruise-related Covid surge.

The Artania and Magnifica were anchored off the West Australian port of Fremantle with a third, the Vasco de Gama, on its way.

“There are no circumstances we will allow passengers or crew to wander the streets in our state,” West Australian Premier Mark McGowansaid.

Yokohama: The Diamond Princess, a Covid-hit cruise ship off Japan that saw 712 passengers and crew contracting the disease with 10 deaths, left its moorings in Yokohama. It dominated headlines as Japan’s clumsy handling of its quarantine made it at one point the biggest cluster of Covid carriers outside China. AFP

The Magnifica, carrying around 1,700 passengers, departed Fremantle on Tuesday after being allowed to refuel, but was forced to turn back when told it could not dock in Dubai.

Meanwhile health officials were testing some of the more than 800 passengers on board the Artania for Covid after the ship reported 25 persons had a respiratory illness. A string of virus cases have been connected with cruise ship arrivals in Australia.

The latest cluster came from the Ruby Princess, which let passengers off in central Sydney last week, sparking at least 133 cases and one death.

“We’ve seen what has happened in Sydney harbour, it was a complete and utter disaster,” McGowan said.

A quarter of the cases in West Australia are connected with cruise ship arrivals.

Passengers on the Magnifica had already been blocked from disembarking at several Australian ports, passenger Sheila Feuerstein told local radio station 6PR.

“We’re all very happy to be on the ship because it’s 14 days now since we left the ship, we’ve passed the quarantine time now,” Feuerstein said.

The 800 Australians on the Vasco de Gama would be quarantined on Rottnest Island but its 150 other passengers would have to wait onboard for travel arrangements to be made. —Reuters