'Stranded at sea': cruise ships around the world are adrift as ports turn them away Coronavirus

Table Of Content

• The Silver Shadow is holding passengers in isolation while docked in Brazil
• The Silver Explorer remains docked in Chile after a passenger tested positive
• Multiple cruise ships have been denied entry to port and are stranded at sea — some with coronavirus cases on board
• Stranded passengers on Holland America 'mystery cruise' have no idea where they will end up after ports turn it away

Four passengers have died aboard one such vessel, the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which has been stranded for days after Chile refused to allow the ship to dock in its original destination of San Antonio on 21 March. And passengers find ways to amuse themselves at sea, like observing the cruise ship's latest delivery of booze. A March 16 letter sent to guests announced that the country had "entered a higher phase of their coronavirus outbreak, and their officials have decided to close all borders by air, land, and sea, as well as their airspace, within the next 48 hours." Like Princess Cruises, Holland America is a subsidiary of cruise industry giant Carnival Corporation. On March 17, the line suspended its global operations for 30 days, citing "port closures and travel restrictions." No Holland America passengers or crew members have tested positive for COVID-19. The Pacific Princess embarked on a 111-day voyage around the world beginning in January.

The Silver Shadow is holding passengers in isolation while docked in Brazil

The cruise liner was scheduled to dock in French Polynesia, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. But after being turned away, the ship is headed to American Samoa to refuel, the Guardian reported. "The ship is in quarantine off the port of Castro. The British citizen is in good condition but has tested positive for coronavirus," said Manalich. The Brazilian state of Pernambuco's health secretariat decided on Thursday to keep the ship — with its 318 passengers and 291 crew members — in isolation in the capital of Recife, the agency said in a statement. The MS Braemar was briefly stranded 25 miles South West of Freeport, an area in the Bahamas, after being denied entry at several ports in the Caribbean.

The Silver Explorer remains docked in Chile after a passenger tested positive

But with ports now closing around the world amid coronavirus fears, the ship's trajectory remains uncertain. However, no passengers will be allowed to disembark in Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa. It remains unclear where and when the Norwegian Jewel's more than 2,000 passengers will be allowed to come ashore. Dramatic scenes of coronavirus-stricken cruises, such as the Grand Princess in California and the Diamond Princess in Japan, have become synonymous with the pandemic.

Multiple cruise ships have been denied entry to port and are stranded at sea — some with coronavirus cases on board

In a statement on Friday, Holland America Line said that once healthy passengers had been moved to the Rotterdam, the company planned to sail both cruise ships to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, keeping all passengers in isolation on both ships. More than 2,000 people are marooned at sea after four countries denied entry to a cruise ship over coronavirus fears - despite the crew's insistence that there are no virus cases on board. Olsen announced this morning that the cruise was setting sail for Cuba, where guests will be "repatriated back to the UK by air," a statement from the company read. Once all of its cruise ships return home, all of its ocean cruise operations will be suspended until May 23. The Zaandam is carrying hundreds of American, Canadian, Australian and British passengers, and is currently off the coast of Ecuador and seeking permission to dock in Florida. Ports around the globe are turning cruise ships away en masse amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving thousands of passengers stranded even as some make desperate pleas for help while sickness spreads aboard.

The Zaandam will be allowed through the waterway to ensure passengers and crew “an expedited return home” after Panama's Ministry of Health approved the journey, the Panama Canal Authority said in a statement. Despite Donald Trump’s repeated vows to bail out the cruise ship industry, money for cruise companies was not a part of the $500bn in aid for large employers included in stimulus bill passed by Congress on Wednesday. Lori Bessler, a southern California resident whose parents are stuck onboard the Coral Princess, another boat stranded off the coast of Brazil with no reported illness onboard, says she is nonetheless concerned for her family’s health and wellbeing. “My mom and stepdad are diabetics and … we’re very concerned about them having enough medication to sustain them,” she told the Guardian. We sincerely thank our guests and their loved ones for their continued patience and understanding during this unprecedented situation. According to a passenger named CJ Hayden, the ship last docked in Exmouth, Western Australia on March 3 — since then it's been refused entry at several previously scheduled ports, including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

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"From there the ship will head north, and Holland America Line is currently working on finalizing the details for the best place for guests to disembark as soon as possible and return home," the spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. "We are actively working to find an alternative port and are communicating with guests regularly as we have further information," the cruise line said in a statement to CNN. "Voyages that are underway will conclude and guests will be disembarked as soon as possible and assisted with travel arrangements." After one guest onboard the Silver Shadow tested positive for COVID-19, the cruise ship was docked in isolation at a port in northeastern Brazil. The ship originally departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, and was scheduled for a 14-day cruise of South America, with plans to disembark in San Antonio, Chile, on March 21.

The cruise ship's future remains unclear, and passengers and crew members alike are not sure where or when they will be able to disembark. The situation on board the Zaandam latest instance of the havoc that the COVID-19 outbreak has wrought on the cruise ship industry. Six passengers died after getting caught up in the coronavirus outbreak onboard the Diamond Princess ship in February. A majority of the guests released from the Grand Princess declined to be tested for the disease after a lengthy quarantine. After the Pacific Princess was denied entry at Seychelles and abandoned plans to go to Zanzibar, the cruise liner set sail for Fremantle, Australia.

After making stops in Montevideo, Uruguay and the Falkland Islands, the cruise was canceled on March 15. Passengers received a letter apologizing for the situation; "We are very sorry to inform you that our current sailing will now terminate in Punta Arenas, where we have arrived today." Although none of the passengers onboard appeared to be sick, the ship was still turned away forcing the cruise liner was forced to change its course, BuzzFeed reported. After the Celebrity Eclipse was denied entry at the port in San Antonio, Chile, the cruise lining company attempted to work with the Chilean government to allow the cruise liner with a capacity of nearly 3,000 to enter. "The protection of the health and safety of passengers and crew members is a top priority for Costa Cruises," the company said in a statement to Miami Herald. The Costa Luminosa, which is owned by the Carnival Corporation, has had three guests diagnosed with COVID-19.

Hundreds of North American, Australian and British citizens are in isolation in their rooms and a boat-to-boat operation is underway to move some healthy travellers to a sister ship, the Rotterdam, over the weekend. Some chat with other cabins on a Facebook group, others enjoy the free liquor, snap pictures of brown boobies flying outside their windows, or partake in meditation, yoga classes and a daily quiz offered via the ship’s TV. Passengers joke the top quiz prize should be extra face masks or toilet paper, or a chance to get outside and do laps around the promenade deck. The fast-moving nature of the virus has added to the confusion – when many passengers left for vacations in early March there were no cases of Covid-19 in South America, so they thought it would be safe to travel.

The plight of those still adrift highlights how cruise ships have become a kind of pariah of the seas, with cities wary of becoming the next home for a potentially infected vessel. The March 15 letter cited "challenges maintaining scheduled itinerary in light of rapidly changing restrictions limited to COVID-19" as the reason for the cancellation. The Zaandam crew would work with Chile in order to arrange a disembarkation on March 21, and would remain in the port to accommodate guests unable to catch an immediate flight. The American passenger who spoke with Business Insider said he was especially upset about the lack of assistance for guests who booked travel arrangements independent of Holland America. The March 15 letter advised that passengers who'd signed up for the line's Flight Ease program would have their "homeward flights rebooked to depart from Punta Arenas at our expense." Cruise ships are currently clogging Port Tampa Bay, according to the The Tampa Bay Times.

Many on board the Zaandam have only been able to pass messages via Whatsapp or through family members due to poor internet connection. Before passengers are allowed to move to the Rotterdam, which brought supplies and Covid-19 test kits to the stranded boat, travellers are screened for illness but many are not passing the tests. “Cruise ships are often settings for outbreaks of infectious diseases because of their closed environment, contact between travelers from many countries, and crew transfers between ships,” the CDC report concluded.

"All on board are not being allowed off the ship until results are known," New Zealand's director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, announced on Sunday. Although the cruise ship was stranded in the Bahamas,  a cargo ship delivered a supply of food, medication and ship supplies overnight. The cruise line confirmed the four deaths involved “older guests,” but did not say where they were from, or whether those who tested positive for the coronavirus were among them. Another Holland America ship, the Rotterdam, delivered medical supplies and medical personnel to the Zaandam on Thursday.