Coronavirus: ‘Largest peacetime operation’ to send cruise ships home
The ‘largest peace time maritime operation’ has taken place to rid Sydney Harbour of cruise ships amid Ruby Princess scandal.
The largest maritime operation ever conducted on Sydney Harbour has been undertaken by NSW Police and the port authority to assist five cruise ships still in Australian waters return to their home ports, as the NSW government faces increased scrutiny over its handling of the Ruby Princess debacle.
The Spectrum of the Seas and the Radiance of the Seas departed for their home ports on Saturday afternoon after fuel, food and medical supplies were loaded on board.
More than 600 crew members, who are foreign nationals, were moved between the two ships during the operation in Sydney Harbour.
A third ship, the Celebrity Solstice, entered the harbour on Saturday afternoon with another two — Voyager of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas — expected to follow.
Another 780 crew will be moved between the boats before all three depart. Superintendent Steve Hegarty described it as the “largest peace time maritime operation” undertaken in Sydney Harbour.
Local authorities liaised with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and its subsidiary Celebrity Cruises to safely coordinate the provisioning and crew movements of their ships so they could head home.
The Spectrum of the Seas cruiseliner entered Sydney Harbour about 4.30pm on Friday and docked at Athol Bay to re-provision essential supplies, including fuel, food and medical materials.
It was then joined by the Radiance of the Seas ship which entered Sydney Harbour after 5am on Saturday morning.
“NSW Police have been instrumental in facilitating the movement of more than 750,000 tonnes of shipping through the Port of Sydney over about a 30-hour period,” Supt Hegarty said.
Meanwhile, the notorious Ruby Princess cruise ship — Australia’s biggest single source of infection linked to seven deaths after 2700 passengers and crew were allowed to disembark in Sydney without COVID-19 testing — remains off the coast of NSW as a police investigation into the debacle gets underway.
It has been revealed the NSW Port Authority initially denied the notorious cruise ship Ruby Princess permission to dock at Sydney’s Circular Quay but the decision was overturned after a series of “panicked” late night phone calls.
The Sunday Telegraph reports cruise ship staff who called for ambulances to meet the vessel warned paramedics needed to take precautions because two passengers had been swabbed for COVID-19 and were possibly infected. A health log obtained by the newspaper shows the Ruby Princess had at least 17 passengers on board with temperatures over 38C when it sought permission to dock at Sydney Harbour on March 18.
Despite initially denying the the ship entry, the NSW Port Authority then overturned its own decision after a series of midnight calls between the ship and NSW Ambulance officers. The cruise liner came into port about 2.30am on March 19, before passengers and crew were allowed to disembark.
NSW Labor called for the state’s Health Minister Brad Hazzard to resign over the Ruby Princess scandal, with the opposition labelling it “one of the greatest health disasters” in NSW history.
Mr Hazzard and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant faced intense questioning yesterday over why NSW Health officials allowed passengers to disembark without awaiting COVID-19 testing. Dr Chant said officials believed it was only a flu outbreak on board and decision making could have been “wiser” in hindsight.
Mr Hazzard on Saturday backed staff who allowed the Ruby Princess cruise ship to disembark in Sydney despite knowing results from onboard swab tests would be known within hours.
More than 600 passengers onboard have since tested positive for COVID-19, including 351 NSW residents. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller is investigating the handling of the saga.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 104 on Saturday bringing the state’s total to 2493.
With AAP
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