NSW Police to probe Ruby Princess

CARNIVAL Australia remains firmly in the mainstream media spotlight during the COVID-19 crisis, with an ongoing focus on the spread of coronavirus from cruise ships promp ng a formal inves ga on by NSW Police.

Commissioner Mick Fuller (pictured) announced the probe yesterday, saying “there seems to be absolute discrepancies between the informa on provided by Carnival and what I would see as the benchmark for the laws that the Federal Government and the State Government put in place in terms of protec ng Australians from cruise ships when coronavirus had started.

“The only way I can get to the bottom of whether our na onal biosecurity laws and our state laws were broken is through a criminal inves ga on,” he said.

Carnival Australia President, Sture Myrmell and local Princess Cruises chief, Stuart Allison, have both insisted that procedures in place at the me were followed “to the le%er” (CW 03 Apr), while Federal Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton has accused cruise lines of “lying”.

In the mean me documents including transcripts of radio communica ons between the Ruby Princess and shoreside health authori es have emerged, and sensa onal tabloid‐style exposés on TV last night raised ques ons about the role of NSW Health and Border Force.

MEANWHILE a major opera on on Sydney Harbour on the weekend saw police supervise the controlled departure of five Royal Caribbean Cruises ships from local waters, described as “the largest mari me opera on the city has seen outside war me”.

Crew members were transferred between Celebrity Solstice, Voyager of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas, Spectrum of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas

as the ships were restocked for journeys to their home ports, in compliance with an Australian Border Force order that all cruise ships should leave before 15 Jun.

Ruby Princess has relocated to Port Kembla where unwell crew are being evacuated and cared for.