Coronavirus: Westerdam cruise ship allowed to dock in Cambodia, after being stranded at sea
- The Holland America cruise ship was turned away from Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines
- It will now dock in Sihanoukville and passengers will be allowed to disembark
The MS Westerdam, which has 1,455 passengers and 802 crew on board, will dock at the Cambodian seaport of Sihanoukville on at 7am on Thursday, the company said. It will remain in port for several days for disembarkation and guests will be able to go ashore.
“Guests will disembark in Sihanoukville over the next few days and transfer via charter flights to Phnom Penh for forward travel home. Holland America Line will arrange and pay for all flights home, in addition to the full cruise refund and 100 per cent future cruise credit already communicated,” the company said.
“We will immediately begin making our way to Sihanoukville in Cambodia,” Westerdam captain Vincent Smit told passengers. “There will be a brief health inspection on board by the Cambodian authorities which will take place at anchor just before we arrive alongside,” he said.
Holland America, owned by Miami-based Carnival Corporation, said in an earlier statement that there was no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on board the Westerdam.
Stephen Hansen, a passenger travelling on the Westerdam with his wife, said patience was wearing thin among those on board, even though cruise life has mostly continued as normal.
“We are no longer just a group of inconvenienced travellers,” said Hansen by email. “If we don’t dock soon we will start running low on food, fuel and medications.”