Close to a hundred Australians stuck on MV Greg Mortimer, an expedition cruise ship off Uruguay may be “sitting ducks” as fears of coronavirus outbreak spread.
Already one passenger has been tested positive to COVID-19 and nine others have developed symptoms according to an SBS report.
The passenger with COVID-19 is “in a critically ill condition” but receiving the “best care possible” in a Uruguayan hospital, according to a letter to passengers by Aurora Expeditions managing director, Robert Halfpenny.
The ship, operated by Aurora Expeditions, has been stranded in Montevideo for almost two weeks.
The ship’s doctor and at least three crew members are among those who developed fevers, Mr Halfpenny said. Another three unwell people have since been identified with symptons.
“While we have enormous assistance and understanding of the situation, it will not be clear cut – but we and the governments working with us know that we must find a way to get you off the ship as soon as possible,” Mr Halfpenny said in the letter.
Family members of the 96 Australians on board said they are growing increasingly anxious about the safety of their relatives, many of whom are considered vulnerable to COVID-19, said the SBS report.
Nicholas Bennett told SBS News he was extremely concerned for his parents, Phil, 77, and Elesa, 72, who were on a “trip of a lifetime” when the pandemic hit and are now trapped on the ship.
“They’re pretty much sitting ducks now,” Mr Bennett said. “My father is pretty old, he’s in his 70s and they are high risk so I’m very worried about them,” he said.
The Bennetts left Sydney on 11 March, two weeks before the Australian government moved to ban people from travelling overseas.
Another passenger from Coffs Harbour, Christine Lefeaux Waites told ABC: “I am scared and want to go home. Morale is low and passengers do not even speak to each other. We can go on our balconies for fresh air but other than that no exercise”
Mr Halfpenny said in the letter that there would be comprehensive testing of all healthy passengers but warned it would be difficult to “maintain the same standard of essential services on board” due to the ill health and isolation of the crew.
A second Antarctic cruise ship, the Ocean Atlantic with about 120 Australians on board was allowed to dock at Montevideo port earlier this week and all Australian and New Zealand passengers have since flown out of Uruguay on chartered or commercial flights.
The passengers were allowed to disembark after undergoing health checks said the ship’s operator Chimu Adventures.
Proud of my small country (Uruguay) that provided these people with medical care and helped go home.
This repatriation is being paid for by the cruise line’s insurer, and not the Australian government.
Compassion decrees we should bring these people home, but I say at their expense. Keep their hands out of tax payers pockets
They knew the risks when they flew out, COVID 19 was well known by their March departure date, but they thumbed their noses at warnings and went anyway, thus the description above.
If they are now seeking “financial assistance” from we taxpayers, to bring further burden back to our healthcare system, I say “no way”, and, they should pay for their healthcare care also. Nothing comes for nothing, the buck has to stop somewhere, or be paid by someone.
Once they get home if only ten of them end up in ICU, it costs thousands of dollars a day (each) to keep them there, so we can look forward to that bill also.
Not to mention endangering the lives of the healthcare workers charged with their care. Secondary infection is a real risk here, hopefully no one has to die as a result of this completely selfish and irresponsible behavior.
It is time all Aussies started to understand the full and real costs of this virus, and modified their behavior accordingly.
If they could afford to go on this cruise (not cheap), they can afford to pay the full and real costs of there repatriation and healthcare costs.
Fed up.
At least one of those people is a doctor, a cardiologist in fact. No sympathy at all.
Shouldn’t have gone on the cruises! What an earth were these people thinking? We cancelled two planned overseas holidays in late feb as, aside from risks of infection, too concerned to travel without adequate insurance and the potential to be locked down in a resort, of worse still, a country. Things were changing rapidly and there is absolutely no excuse or logical explanation for any leisure travel. Highly irresponsible and reckless. You’d have to have been living in a vacuum to not understand the severity and possible consequences of travel at this time. Perhaps insurance companies could help these travellers out except they wilfully left without any such security. They have created a huge needless problem on top of other problems and are placing demands on a system that is already under pressure. This simply shouldn’t have occurred. No excuses.
The writing was on the wall at the beginning of March. I cancelled an 8 March overseas trip (not even a cruise) on 1 March. These people flew out of Sydney on 11 March and then joined a cruise without a concern? Unbelievable.
I had planned to take a Cruise that was to leave from Shanghai – but then the outbreak occurred in Wuhan – so I did not proceed with the booking.
Then I heard that most ships that operated in the Asia/Japan region were redirected to Australia for cruising – and I discovered CUNARD had a Circumnavigation planned for 12th April, with NO foreign port calls – so I booked that one in Mid February – well before the total impact if the Corona Virus and the implications it would have on Cruise Ships was known.
I followed the developments on a daily basis and once it was announced that Australia would not allow ships to dock – who came from foreign ports, I was certain that my cruise would not go ahead.
By then Cunard had suspended all operations until 11th April and kept the Queen Elizabeth in Australian Waters. I could NOT cancel my Cruise – and had to wait until Cunard notified Passengers of a Cancelation, which I finally received a few days ago
We returned from a cruise on the Ruby Princess 8 Feb and our son picked us up when we disembarked in Sydney to take us to the airport. Our son was concerned about the corona virus found on the Diamond Princess, he gave us effective masks and warned us not to go anywhere overseas at this time because this virus was deadly serious (he is not a health care worker).
There was plenty of news prior to people leaving that there was a epidemic about to hit – we left in early January and were refused landing in Mauritius and Madagascar – we were told to come home and did – some people thought it was worth it not to lose money, I feel for all those stuck but it should not cost the Australian taxpayer a penny – by all means repatriate – but should be paid back – every cent
I can’t believe anyone in their right mind would have gone away overseas, when it was known about this virus.
I had a trip planned for end of June. I of course cancelled it..
Just asking.. Why did these people actually board these ships and go cruising knowing full well that this virus was running rife.
Surely common sense says stay away from these ships which are breeding sites.
My husband and I have been in isolation for 4 weeks….Ships that sailed anytime in March had to know there was doubts… maybe not government bans, but the passengers were responsible for their own wellbeing and did not believe the warnings. The same as people who flew out of Australia, and people who were away and did not return.
This whole pandemic is as frightening as world war. A lot of people will learn from it and a lot will ignore. We have lost money … But we are holding our family together … a few months is nothing.
We cannot afford to plan travels again, that is gone. We have our family.