Coronavirus: MV Greg Mortimer ship owner rejected attempts to cancel adventure cruise

Paul Wright and his wife tried to cancel their trip aboard the MV Greg Mortimer. They were refused and are now infected.

Paul Wright in his cabin on the MV Greg Mortimer.

More than 90 Australians — many of them with coronavirus — are due to be evacuated from Uruguay to Melbourne on Saturday after COVID-19 broke out on the new luxury adventure cruise ship MV Greg Mortimer.

Passenger Paul Wright told The Weekend Australian he and his wife, Sara, had contacted ship owner Aurora on March 9 — six days before the ship was to sail — questioning the wisdom of the expedition proceeding and asking whether they could cancel or defer their cruise.

“In response, we were advised in writing by Aurora that the cruise was proceeding and no refunds or credits for cancellation would be offered,” Mr Wright wrote in an email.

“On each of 13 March and 14 March, we again contacted Aurora from Buenos Aires about cancellation and received the exact same response.”

The Australian couple had paid $53,000, not including flights, for the 21-day adventure to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. MV Greg Mortimer was launched last year. The vessel sailed from Ushuaia on March 15 and one of the passengers fell ill on March 22.

Mr Wright said a decision had already been made on March 20 to turn back. “But rather than sail back with full speed, the boat stopped for a day at Deception Island and then for a second day at another location on the Antarctic Peninsula,” he wrote. “On 22 March, we were advised that a passenger was unwell with a fever and as a precaution, we were confined to our cabins, where we have been ever since.

“Over the course of the next few days, a number of passengers developed a fever, and since we arrived off Montevideo on or about 27 March, at least six people have been evacuated from the boat to hospital in Montevideo, several of which are in the ICU and at least two have been intubated.”

Of the 217 passengers and crew on MV Greg Mortimer, 128 have tested positive to COVID-19. Mr Wright and his wife are among those, but by Friday they were both showing no symptoms.

He said the staff on the ship had been excellent in difficult circumstances, but he believed the MV Greg Mortimer should never have been allowed to sail.

Aurora’s insurance will cover the cost of the evacuation for Australian and New Zealand passengers. It was not clear how many, if any, were too ill to fly.

The chartered Airbus will be set up into risk zones, with passengers seated by test results and level of care required, according to a media statement from Aurora.

The company said New Zealand passengers would fly directly on to New Zealand after landing in Melbourne.

“It has been a very harrowing time for all involved and we are pleased to be able to confirm the plans moving forward,” an Aurora spokeswoman said.