Virus-hit cruise ship docks in Cuba for passengers to evacuate

HAVANA: A British cruise ship that has been stranded for more than a week in the Caribbean after several cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed onboard was set to dock in Cuba yesterday to allow weary passengers to disembark and fly home.

Britain’s Foreign Minister Dominic Raab expressed gratitude on Tuesday in parliament to Communist-run Cuba for offering a safe haven to the Braemar, which has more than 1,000 mainly British passengers and crew aboard after several Caribbean ports refused to let it dock.

The novel coronavirus, SARSCoV-2, has plunged the cruise industry into chaos as the global tightening of entry requirements has left many ships stranded or quarantined. Cruise lines have suspended future trips in recent days.

“Prevention and contention of the new coronavirus require efforts of the entire international community,” said Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez.

“Let’s reinforce health care, solidarity and international cooperation.”

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, which operates the Braemar, said it would dock at the Mariel port, just west of Havana.

Passengers would return to Britain from the capital’s international airport in the evening on four charter flights, it said, including a separate one for passengers who had received a positive diagnosis for coronavirus or displayed any flu-like symptoms.

Any not considered well enough to fly would be offered support and medical treatment in Cuba.

There are 28 passengers in isolation on the Braemar who have shown influenza-like symptoms, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said.

This includes two people who tested positive for the new coronavirus at its last port of call, Willemstad, Curaçao, on March 10.

Since then the ship was refused docking in Barbados and the Bahamas, which are both part of the British commonwealth. – Reuters