Last Passengers Leave Cruise Ship in Cambodia After Tests Clear Them

Last Passengers Leave Cruise Ship in Cambodia After Tests Clear Them

Remaining passengers who were stuck on board a cruise ship docked in Cambodia for almost a week left the vessel on Wednesday (Feb 19) after they tested negative for the coronavirus, a government official said.

The ship came under renewed scrutiny amid Cambodia’s quick clearance for passengers to fly home, which was criticized after one American woman who had been on the cruise ship tested positive for the virus over the weekend after a special flight chartered by the cruise reached Malaysia.

On Wednesday, a series of cheers went up from people lining the lower deck of the cruise ship and there were several loud blasts of the ship’s horn as passengers began disembarking, 18 days after the ship first left Hong Kong.

“The last 233 passengers on MS Westerdam are disembarked and will continue to Phnom Penh by buses,” said Mr Kheang Phearum, spokesman for Preah Sihanouk province, where Sihanoukville is located.

Holland America Line confirmed in a statement the last passengers had been given health clearances to leave the ship and make their way home.

“The company is working to finalize arrangements for everyone,” the statement said, adding that those who traveled home previously will be contacted by their local health department.

Upon leaving the vessel, passengers received traditional checkered Cambodian scarves as souvenirs.

The passengers will spend a night in capital Phnom Penh and then fly home, said Mr Sun Chan Thol, Cambodia’s Minister of Public Transport.