2800 passengers affected
52 Infected: Corona has been holding the cruise ship “Aida Nova” in Lisbon for four days
The “Aida Nova” from Aida Cruises has been in the port of Lisbon since Wednesday, December 29th.
© Soeren Stache / DPA
Due to a Covid-19 outbreak, the flagship of the shipping company Aida Cruises with more than 4,000 people on board is unable to continue its voyage as planned. Tui Cruises ships in the Caribbean and Dubai are also affected by corona cases.
Due to dozens of infections among the crew and the difficulties in finding a replacement, the “Aida Nova” was still stuck in the port of the Portuguese capital Lisbon on Sunday afternoon, as a spokesman for the port command of the German Press Agency announced on request. The 337-meter-long cruise ship left the port of Coruña in Spain on December 27 and arrived in Lisbon on Wednesday morning at around 5:36 a.m., as the “Marina Traffic” app shows.
Aida Cruises said on Friday in Rostock that the positive corona cases were discovered early during routine tests and that those affected were accommodated on land in coordination with the authorities in Lisbon. The crew members had only mild symptoms and would receive medical attention.
The Lisbon port director Diogo Vieira Branco told the Portuguese state news agency Lusa that 52 of the 1353 crew members had tested positive on the “Aida Nova”. They were all accommodated in hotels in Lisbon, where they should complete the required isolation.
Almost 3,000 cruise passengers from Germany, among others, had to spend the turn of the year differently than planned because of the problems: The planned visit to the spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks over the port of Funchal on the Atlantic island of Madeira was canceled – which some travelers reported in the social networks spoiled the New Year’s and party mood.
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The port commander was quoted by Lusa late Friday evening as saying that there were 2,844 tourists on the ship, among whom there was no positive case. In contrast, “RTL.de” reports that too a passenger on board the “Aida Nova infected may be. The Portuguese authorities granted the “Aida Nova” permission to sail, regardless of the thinned out crew.
Ships from Tui and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises also affected
According to Aida Cruises, it was not clear when the ship would continue its voyage to the Canary Islands. They are waiting for important crew members to arrive and are looking at various travel options, the company informed the dpa upon request. According to the information, the cruise guests are allowed to leave the ship without restrictions.
The company pointed out that all passengers aged 12 and over and the crew had been vaccinated and had to present both an antigen and a PCR test prior to departure.
Shortly before the turn of the year there were several passengers who tested positive on board the luxury ships “MS Europa” and MS Europa 2 “of the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. The ships were forced to change routes or to cancel their voyages in Dubai.
“RTL.de” further reports that there have also been corona cases on board the cruise ships of the Hamburg shipping company Tui Cruises in the past few days. A passenger on board the “Mein Schiff 1”, which is currently sailing in the Caribbean, tested positive.
The “Mein Schiff 6”, which cruises in the Persian Gulf, could not call at Doha in Qatar as planned and take in new passengers because “isolated corona cases” were found on board on Friday. The “Mein Schiff 6” was still at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal in the port of Dubai on Sunday afternoon.