Thailand welcomes cruise ship shunned in Vietnam over virus fears
German cruise ship AIDAvita has been welcomed in Thailand, days after it was blocked from docking in Vietnam due to fears of the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading across the region. Authorities in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province, home to UNESCO world heritage site Ha Long Bay, barred passengers on the AIDAvita from disembarking on Thursday, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
Germany’s AIDA Cruises, the owner of the AIDAvita, did not respond to requests for comment. AIDA Cruises is a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp. The vessel, with some 1,100 passengers and 400 crew, docked early yesterday at the eastern Laem Chabang port, according to a Thai Maritime Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“This morning Department of Disease Control officials have monitored all the passengers and right now there has been no report of any patients inside. The situation on this ship is normal and officials have not found anyone with fever over 37.5 degrees.”
Stoking fears in countries that usually allow cruise ships to dock is the quarantine in Japan of the Diamond Princess, also managed by a unit of Carnival Corp. Of the 3,700 passengers and crew on that vessel, 335 have now tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. The ship remains quarantined in Japan’s Yokohama port. Phuket recently allowed two cruise ships to dock after turning away the MS Westerdam, which was eventually allowed to dock in Cambodia.
The AIDAvita was scheduled to disembark in Phuket today. However, because of worries about the virus, AIDA says it will now send the Aidavita and another vessel, the AIDAbella, for tours in other parts of the world. Rerouting these ships away from Asia, in effect cancelling them, will affect some 3,300 passengers.
