Coronavirus: 145 older Aussies ‘marooned’ on expedition ship off Argentina

A group of 145 predominantly older Australians are trapped on an expedition ship to Antarctica that has been turned back by ­Argentina.

Adrift: Adelaide retirees John and Helen Hall.

A group of 145 predominantly older Australians are trapped on an expedition ship to Antarctica that has been turned back by ­Argentina because of the coronavirus and is now hoping to dock in Uruguay.

The passengers, many of them retirees in their 70s and 80s, have been confined to spartan cabins for most of the day but have been holding samba dance lessons on the ship’s deck to uplift spirits.

Because of the remote location, they have very sketchy internet coverage and have been struggling to talk to worried adult children in Australia.

A Facebook group, Family of Passengers on the Ocean Atlantic, has been set up by Adelaide doctor Claire Bolton, whose parents, John and Helen Hall, are aboard.

Dr Bolton told The Australian she last spoke to her parents at the weekend and while they were coping reasonably well, they were starting to get anxious. Other elderly passengers on board were running out of personal medicines.

“It’s been a stressful time and we have been having trouble getting a straight answer out of anyone,” Dr Bolton said. “We just want them off that ship and to know they’ll be able to get home.”

The group boarded the Ocean Atlantic on March 2 from Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America, when there were no recorded cases of coronavirus in Argentina.

Two days later, the country recorded its first cases and deaths, with the virus quickly spreading via community transmission, meaning it closed its borders and refused to let the Ocean Atlantic vessel dock in Buenos Aires.

The passengers explored Antarctica and South Georgia but their trip was cut short on March 15 when it became apparent the Falkland Islands would deny the ship entry.

It then tried to return to the South American mainland so passengers could return home but the tour operators, Copenhagen-based Albatros Expeditions, were told the ship would be denied entry to Puerto Madryn, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

The crew attempted to head back to Ushuaia, by which time Ushuaia would not accept them either, and so on March 16 they set sail for Buenos Aires.

Talks are now under way with authorities in the neighbouring Uruguayan capital of Montevideo to see whether passengers can disembark there, but the Uruguayans have been citing health fears against it, even though none of the 198 passengers on board the ship has COVID-19.

Dr Bolton said families of some of the Australian passengers were told late on Tuesday that there was a chance the ship could dock in Montevideo on Wednesday.

The requisite paperwork has not been completed, however, and Uruguayan authorities are insisting that a “sanitary corridor” be created to remove the passengers from the ship and place them under quarantine before they can be repatriated.

“We just don’t really know what the situation is on the ground and given Buenos Aires initially said they could disembark there, we will wait to see it before we believe it,” Dr Bolton said.

“We just want them out of there. Since March 16, they’ve been in lockdown in their cabins, some 11sq m, with small times for fresh air scheduled in small groups on deck each day and public areas inside the ship otherwise closed. The ship was running low on food and fuel but a neighbouring ship with no passengers transferred some to them.”

Albatros Expeditions has not issued a statement, and affected families say they have had limited assistance from DFAT, which is struggling to keep up with the demands from an estimated 3000 Australians trapped on cruise ships worldwide.