All passengers disembarked from Costa Fortuna
Foreign passengers to leave S'pore in 2 days
Passengers began disembarking from the Costa Fortuna at 9am yesterday, an hour after the cruise ship docked at Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
By noon, more than 600 passengers out of 1,631 had been allowed to leave after they were found to be well, the Ministry of Health (MOH), Singapore Tourism Board, and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a joint statement.
In an update last night, the agencies said that by 11pm, all passengers had been allowed to disembark.
By midnight, all foreign passengers would have been taken directly to the airport for their onward flight or to their respective hotels.
"All foreign passengers will depart Singapore within the next two days," the agencies said.
The cruise ship, which set sail with about about 2,000 crew and passengers from Singapore last Tuesday, was denied entry by Phuket in Thailand last Friday and then Penang in Malaysia the next day despite having no coronavirus infection on board.
At least two Singaporeans were on board the ship, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong at a multi-ministry press conference yesterday.
"I could understand why Singaporeans are concerned about the cruise ship," Mr Wong said.
There have been many cases of infection on cruises overseas, but this particular ship is different. The passengers were already in Singapore when they embarked with the intention to come back here, he added.
"It is not right to reject the ship... and we took extra precautions as we have done for all cruise ships."
DISINFECTED
Like all other cruise ships departing from Singapore's cruise terminals, Costa Fortuna was disinfected prior to its departure from Singapore, the agencies said.
The ship submitted its Maritime Declaration of Health at 6am yesterday stating none of its passengers and crew have fever or other symptoms of respiratory illness.
"The ship was allowed to berth at 8am as scheduled. The penalty for false declaration includes up to six months' imprisonment," said the agencies.
Passengers with travel history to affected regions such as northern Italy in the last 14 days completed individual screening by doctors licensed by MOH and are certified fit to travel.
They had entered Singapore and boarded the ship before the travel restriction barring those with travel history to affected regions was implemented. They will stay on board the ship before being taken directly to the airport for their flights.
Other passengers and crew checked by the ship doctor were found to be well.
On disembarkation, they went through thermal and visual screenings by MOH- licensed healthcare providers.
Costa Cruises yesterday said it has cancelled the next two cruises out of Singapore.
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