Stranded cruise ship finally docks
Passengers grateful to disembark in Cambodia
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — Hundreds of cruise ship passengers long stranded at sea by virus fears cheered as they finally disembarked Friday and were welcomed to Cambodia by the nation’s authoritarian leader, who handed them flowers.
Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed to let the MS Westerdam dock at the port of Sihanoukville on Thursday after Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Guam had barred the ship earlier.
“How wonderful it is to be here. Thank you very much to the prime minister. He has a wonderful heart,” said Anna Marie Melon, from Queensland, Australia. “I’m very excited (to be here),” she said as she waved a rose Hun Sen handed to her.
The passengers cheered as they walked toward waiting buses and waved goodbye to other passengers watching from the ship’s deck.
“Your country did a great job. Did a wonderful job. Thank you very much. We appreciate it very much,” Joe Spaziani, 74, from Florida, told local reporters at the port.
“Cambodia alone, even the United States, Guam, did not let us land, but Cambodia did, so that’s wonderful. Absolutely wonderful,” Spaziani said. “We appreciate it very very much. It’s been a long struggleand we appreciate everyone being here.”
The Westerdam was unwelcome elsewhere even though operator Holland America Line said no cases of the COVID-19 viral illness have been confirmed among its 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members. Some 20 passengers were tested for the virus after they reported stomachaches or fever, but the tests done at the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh showed none had COVID-19.
Mang Sineth, the vice governor in Preah Sihanouk province, told reporters 414 passengers will leave the port Friday and fly to Cambodia’s capital before traveling to their final destinations. Three flights from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh were arranged to take all the ship’s passengers.
Acting as a good Samaritan is an unusual role for Hun Sen, who has been in power for 35 years.
The U.S. has imposed diplomatic sanctions due to the nation’s repressive political climate.
The Westerdam began its cruise in Singapore last month and its last stop before it was refused further landings was in Hong Kong, where 53 cases of the disease and one death have been confirmed.