Coronavirus: Strict health checks set for cruise ship when Vasco da Gama arrives in Perth

Two cruise ships are waiting off Perth while the WA Premier has intervened to stop hundreds on a third ship from disembarking.

Australia is in a standoff with two international cruise ships off Perth while West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has intervened to prevent hundreds of Australians on a third cruise ship from disembarking south of Perth on Friday.

Australians from the Vasco da Gama are due to arrive south of Perth on Friday and will be taken by ferry to quarantine on Rottnest Island, 22km off Perth.

Meanwhile the Magnifica — with 1700 passengers on board, none of them Australian — is doing loops off Perth after it was denied entry to the United Arab Emirates.

And West Australian health officials are onboard the Artania, anchored off Perth, where 25 passengers have reported respiratory illnesses.

“I will not allow what has happened in Sydney to happen here,” Mr McGowan said, referring to the controversary surrounding the release of passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

“An increasing number of confirmed cases in Western Australia are from cruise ships.

“One in four cases in WA are linked to cruise ships over east. I am not going to take any chances.”

While Mr McGowan said his government would help anyone whose life was at risk, he said he would not allow foreign nationals to disembark en masse from the Artania or the Magnifica.

“Those two ships need to go home. They need to leave and go home,” he said.

WA police commissioner Chris Dawson — head of the state’s emergency response committee — said health officials were testing people with symptoms on the Artania.

The owners of the Magnifica reported nobody was sick when the ship refuelled at Fremantle two days ago but now it was back.

“The vessel (Magnifica) has been doing loops this morning,” Mr Dawson said. “They will not be permitted to dock. The Magnifica is fully refuelled it is fully provisioned. There is no reason that it needs to stay here.

“There are no Australians on board. The UAE is denying them entry there are plenty of other ports in the world.”

Mr McGowan agreed the situation could develop into a Tampa-style crisis, a reference to the standoff involving asylum seekers off Christmas Island in 2000. The former Australian navy officer said he was prepared to involve the military if necessary.

An estimated 900 Australian and New Zealand nationals prepare to disembark the Vasco da Gama.

Ship owner Cruise & Maritime Voyages says it has recorded no health concerns among the passengers or crew, who have not left the vessel since March 14. Some Australian and New Zealanders joined the vessel on March 18 from Columbus, another of the company’s ships. At one stage passengers from Europe were aboard both vessels, but they are now all aboard the Columbus headed for London.

The company says it has spoken to Australian Border Force and passengers will be subjected to “additional, mandatory screening procedures” before they are allowed to get off the ship in Fremantle and go directly to their homes in Western Australia or direct to flights home.

The screenings are expected to take several hours – the ship is scheduled to dock around 8am on Friday (11am, AEDT) and passengers have been told they cannot expect to disembark before 2pm. They may have to stay on the ship overnight.

The Australian understands that Australians and New Zealanders will be taken from the ship to airports in buses provided by Tourism Western Australia.

The ship’s return to Fremantle has heightened angst over COVID-19 after 2700 people were allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess at Sydney’s Circular Quay last week. So far, more than 140 coronavirus cases have been traced to the ship. One passenger died of COVID-19.

“CMV has consulted with Australian Border Force and has confirmed that passengers should not make onwards travel plans any earlier than 2pm local time to allow for additional, mandatory screening procedures,” the company said in a statement.

“To assist passengers with this process and to provide passengers with some flexibility for their onwards journey, Vasco da Gama will remain in Fremantle overnight on Friday 27 March and passengers may remain on-board if required. CMV has asked passengers arranging flights to their final destination to depart the ship by evening of Saturday 28 March 2020.”

Vasco da Gama’s left Fremantle for London on February 12. On March 9, it left Singapore and four days later the company decided to cancel the trip and turn the ship around.

At this point the ship had been at anchorage in Phuket, Thailand since March 11, but passengers were unable to disembark because one passenger was taken to hospital unwell. The company says that passenger later tested negative for COVID-19 and two rounds of testing were undertaken.

On March 18, Vasco da Gama met CMV’s Columbus at anchorage off the coast of Phuket. Australian and New Zealand nationals and residents remained on-board Vasco da Gama, while those on-board Columbus were transferred to Vasco da Gama by tender. Vasco da Gama set sail in the early afternoon for Fremantle. European nationals and residents were transferred from Vasco da Gama to Columbus to join other Europeans before setting sail for London Tilbury.

Columbus had been undertaking a round-the-world cruise and the most recent port it had visited was Semarang, Indonesia on 14 March 2020.