After the announcement of four deaths on board, the liner Zaandam, currently off the coast of Panama, will organize an unprecedented transfer operation of part of its passengers on board another ship sent to the rescue by the company Holland America. Holland America Line confirms that four elderly passengers have died on board the Zaandam, "the company said in a statement posted on its website on Friday, without specifying the causes of death.
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The company said at least two passengers on the ship, which has about 1,800 people on board (including 105 French), tested positive for the new coronavirus.
" Yesterday (Thursday), several patients (among passengers) with respiratory symptoms were tested on Covid-19 and two were positive, " said Holland America. The company says 53 passengers and 85 crew members have flu-like symptoms.
No port wants to receive the boat
The Zaandam, flying the Dutch flag and operated by Holland America (Carnival group), left Buenos Aires on March 7. He was to disembark his passengers in San Antonio, Chile, which refused to dock him. The other South American ports on its route were then closed to it due to restrictions put in place by governments in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic.
On Thursday, while in Panamanian waters, the ship began to receive assistance from another company ship, the Rotterdam, departing from San Diego, United States, with supplies, personnel and Covid-19 tests. The two almost identical blue and white liners were visible in Panama Bay, well away from each other, AFP noted.
Over 100 French on board
" They can only carry out ship-to-ship maneuvers, no person on board is allowed to land in Panama, " Panamanian Minister of Maritime Affairs Noriel Arauz told reporters. The company now plans to transfer on board this second ship the " passengers who are not sick ", after having subjected them to health control. “ We are packing our bags to go on another boat. We are doing well, ”Françoise, a 74-year-old Frenchwoman, confirmed on board with her husband.
Passengers who have health concerns, or who have been placed in solitary confinement after being in contact with patients, as well as the crew, will remain on board the Zaandam, said Holland America. Strict containment measures had been decreed on board as early as March 22 after the discovery of passengers with flu-like symptoms. “We have been locked in our cabins since Sunday. The meal trays are placed on the floor in the corridor, " said a French couple on Wednesday in Figaro, via WhatsApp messaging.
The difficult crossing of the Panama Canal
On Friday, the Panamanian government finally refused for " health reasons " the crossing of the Panama Canal to the liner who wanted to reach Florida in the hope of disembarking all its passengers there on March 30. " The Ministry of Health has not given us the green light ," the administrator of the inter-oceanic seaway, Ricaurte Vasquez, said by videoconference to journalists. " The ship is in Panamanian territorial waters, but must be in solitary confinement ".
Wednesday, the government of the Central American country had however announced that the liner would be authorized to borrow the channel while prohibiting any unloading on its territory. " We continue to work with the Panamanian authorities to obtain the green light to cross the Panama Canal and continue our route to Fort Lauderdale ", in Florida, assured the cruise line in its press release.