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A cruise ship with 1,800 people is unable to dock at any local ports. Now 138 are sick, 4 are dead, and coronavirus cases are being confirmed on the stranded ship still at sea.


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2020 Mar 27, 1:44pm   523 views  2 comments

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Four passengers have died aboard Holland America Line's MS Zaandam ship, according to leaked audio from a sister ship sent to rescue stranded passengers.
"Holland America Line can confirm that four older guests have passed away on Zaandam," a Holland America representative told Business Insider in a statement. Medical staffers and the representative have confirmed at least two cases of COVID-19 on board.

A crew member aboard the MS Rotterdam, which was dispatched to supply the Zaandam with COVID-19 testing kits and other medical supplies, sent Business Insider a memo breaking down a proposed rescue mission in which healthy Zaandam passengers would be transferred to the Rotterdam and sail toward San Diego.

Holland America has confirmed there are 138 sick passengers and crew members on board the Zaandam.

Four passengers have died aboard Holland America Line's stranded MS Zaandam cruise ship, according to a recording leaked to Business Insider from a sister ship sent to rescue healthy passengers.

"I am also sad to share that four older Zaandam guests have passed away," the captain of the MS Rotterdam said in the recording of a shipwide announcement provided to Business Insider. "Three between yesterday and last night, and one a few days ago. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, and the Zaandam team is doing everything they can to support them during this difficult time."

A Holland America crew member sent Business Insider a recording of the Rotterdam's captain announcing the deaths, as well as news from medical staffers confirming at least two cases of COVID-19 aboard the Zaandam.

The Rotterdam rendezvoused with the Zaandam on Thursday night off the coast of Ecuador to deliver medical supplies, including COVID-19 tests. The Rotterdam has no guests on board, but crew members on the ship have said it is staffed with 611 people.

According to a memo leaked by a Rotterdam crew member, the ship is now also tasked with rescuing healthy Zaandam guests.

The crew member sent Business Insider pictures of a printed memo dated Wednesday and titled "Rotterdam Humanitarian Mission FAQ." The rescue-response memo began with the question "Why do we need to do this?"

"This is a humanitarian action to help a sister ship which has an outbreak of respiratory illness mainly affecting your team mates, particularly food preparation and service staff," the memo said. "There is no other place for us to take the guests and no other means to provide assistance to the Zaandam and our fellow team members on board."

In a statement to Business Insider, a Holland America representative confirmed the course of action outlined in the memo.

"Today we announced a plan to transfer groups of healthy Zaandam guests to Rotterdam, with strict protocols for this process developed in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the representative said. "Only those who have not been ill will be moved, and health screenings will be conducted before transferring. Priority for the first guests to transfer will be given to those on Zaandam with inside staterooms and who are over 70."

The leaked memo said that ports and airports in South America and Central America had been closed off to the Zaandam and that "colleagues, fleet family members, and guests" on board "are in dire need."

There were originally 1,243 guests and 586 crew members on the Zaandam. The ship's passengers have been confined to their staterooms since Sunday, with crew members delivering meals and collecting trash from cabins.

The memo described a plan to sail the Rotterdam northwest, up to the United States, predicting that it could reach San Diego in about a week depending on its "fuel and provisions supply." From there, the Rotterdam would "disembark all guests and fly them home."

Only "well guests" — anyone "showing no signs of illness, including fever" — would be eligible for the ship transfer. Sick guests and their "close contacts" would remain behind on the Zaandam. The document did not specify a plan for healthy Zaandam crew members.

The memo said that members of the Zaandam's crew "are showing influenza-like symptoms, such as fever and cough." Business Insider reported on Thursday that, based on conversations with Zaandam passengers, at least 86 crew members and 58 guests had fallen ill.

The Rotterdam would give its sister ship medical staff, supplies, equipment, and "a number of COVID-19 test kits for use in identifying whether or not the illness is on board," the memo said.

Passengers would be transferred to the Rotterdam through a "secure corridor" that would "take them directly to their staterooms," the memo said. Under that plan, no crew members from the Rotterdam would "come into close contact with anybody transferred and en route to their stateroom." All rescued guests would be required to "stay in isolation in their staterooms" for the duration of the journey, and meals would be provided through contactless delivery.

The memo said that the Rotterdam crew would have enough surgical masks and gloves for the estimated seven-to-10-day voyage up to the United States. It said that personal protective equipment would be "provided to wear based on their individual risk," singling out at-risk teams like medical, hotel, technical, and deck staffers.

'We are mariners'
Rotterdam crew members have told Business Insider that despite the memo's attempts to quell their fears, they are frightened of becoming sick. They said they felt that Holland America left them without much of a choice.

"Our crew do not agree, and they did not give us any choice about it," one crew member said. "We will have to serve guests possibly infected by COVID-19 without any equipment or instruction."

The crew member said Holland America "did not care for the health of our crew" by tasking the Rotterdam with the mission.

https://www.businessinsider.com/holland-american-coronavirus-covid-19-zaandam-rotterdam-2020-3

Comments 1 - 2 of 2        Search these comments

1   Tenpoundbass   2020 Mar 27, 1:51pm  

America's pandemic would not have been possible without the Cruise ship industry.
They tried and tried for tow months to seed us with International flights, but they weren't as effective as sequestering a few thousands with a couple sick people until hundreds got it.

May that industry die a horrible death.
2   Tenpoundbass   2020 Mar 27, 1:52pm  

It's time to bring back recreational boating, and Chartered larger boats for excursions.

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