A Holland America Line cruiseship is now sailing to Cambodia after being turned away by ports in five countries.
The 82,900-gt Westerdam (built 2004) is scheduled to arrive at Sihanoukville on Thursday morning to allow its 1,455 passengers to disembark and transfer via charter flights to Phnom Penh for further journeys.
“All approvals have been received and we are extremely grateful to the Cambodian authorities for their support,” said Holland America, a subsidiary of Miami-based cruise giant Carnival.
The company said the passengers would be fully refunded for their trips and have free flights home. The 802 crew members will remain on-board and Holland America has yet to determine on when their shifts will end.
The Westerdam began its voyage from Hong Kong on 1 February for what was supposed to be a 14-day cruise that would be completed in Yokohama, Japan.
However, as the coronavirus epidemic continues to escalate, many Asian countries have closed their borders to people who have visited China, Macau and Hong Kong in the previous two weeks.
The ban has come amid the worsening situation on board Princess Cruises’ 115,900-gt Diamond Princess (built 2004), where the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 174 on Wednesday.
Princess Cruises is another subsidiary of Carnival.
For the past week, the Westerdam was denied entry into ports in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, the US island of Guam, and Thailand.
Holland America had announced on Sunday it received conditional preliminary clearance for the ship’s passengers to disembark in the Thai port of Laem Chabang. However, Thai health authorities on Tuesday stated the Westerdam would be prevented from docking, apparently rescinding the earlier permission.
Despite a request from the US State Department to allow the Westerdam to dock, the Guam government last week refused its entry.
“Our obligation is to protect the people of Guam. Though Guam is prepared to deal with the potential implications of the coronavirus, few jurisdictions can screen, quarantine, or treat 1,400 patients at one time,” said Guam’s governor Leon Guerrero.
“We respect that Guam has a duty to the nation we love, but that duty cannot jeopardise the health and safety of our people.”
