Cruise ship shunned over coronavirus fears arrives in Cambodia
13 February, 2020
A cruise liner that had spent fortnight stumped after being turned away by five countries over fears that somebody aboard may have the coronavirus arrived in Cambodia on Thursday (Feb 13), consistent with passengers and ship tracking data.
The MS Westerdam received an anchoring point within the Cambodian port town of Sihanoukville early Thursday morning, consistent with data published by the Marine Traffic website.
"We've had numerous near moments we thought we were going home only to be turned away," Angela Jones, an American tourist on board the ship, told Reuters.
Jones and her fellow passengers had spent almost fortnight stumped because the ship did not find a rustic that might allow it to dock.
"This morning, just seeing land was such a wide ranging moment," said Jones.
"I thought: is that this real?"
Passengers onboard the ship are subjected to regular health checks throughout the troubled journey, consistent with Holland America, the ship operator and a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp.
Although no-one onboard has fallen ill on board, the ship had been turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand over fears that somebody on the cruise could have the new flu-like virus that has killed quite 1,300 people, most of them in China.
Stoking fears of authorities in those countries has been the continued quarantine in Japan of the Diamond Princess cruise liner , also managed by a unit of Carnival Corp. a complete of 175 out of the three ,700 people on board the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise liner , which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears, Feb 12, 2020. (Photo: Maria Angus/Handout via REUTERS)
On Tuesday, the Westerdam had attempted to try to to ck in Bangkok but was denied permission by Thai authorities to do so. On Wednesday, a Thai Navy warship escorted the Westerdam out of the Gulf of Thailand, where it headed on a replacement course to Cambodia, consistent with Marine Traffic.
Westerdam captain Vincent Smit said during a letter to passengers the ship would be at anchor outside Sihanoukville first to permit authorities to conduct health checks on board.
Most passengers are going to be ready to disembark and start their journey home via chartered flights from Phnom Penh , the Phnom Penh , from Feb 14, consistent with a replica of the letter seen by Reuters.
"We are very happy to possess our final plan," Smit said within the letter.
The US ambassador to Cambodia said he had dispatched a team to help US citizens with disembarking and transferring to onward destinations and was coordinating with embassies of other nationalities.
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