All passengers disembarked from Costa Fortuna cruise ship, foreign travellers to depart Singapore in next two days: Authorities

SINGAPORE — As of 11pm on Tuesday (March 10), all passengers onboard the Costa Fortuna cruise ship docked at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre have been allowed to disembark. 

In a joint update, the Ministry of Health (MOH), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said that by midnight, all the foreign passengers would have been taken directly to the airport for their onward flight, or to their respective hotels. They would depart Singapore in the next two days. 

As an added precautionary measure, the cruise terminals have put in place enhanced housekeeping and hygiene protocols to maintain high standards of sanitation and cleanliness of the terminals

“Employees of all stakeholders working in the terminals have also been reminded to seek prompt medical attention if they are unwell,” said MOH, MPA and STB. 

The Costa Fortuna was carrying 1,631 people, according to MPA. Previous media reports said 64 passengers were from Italy, which has more than 9,100 confirmed cases and 463 deaths from the Covid-19 virus — the highest outside China.

The ship had been turned away from ports in Malaysia and Thailand over Covid-19 fears, before the MPA and STB said on Monday that it would make its scheduled call on Tuesday in Singapore.

MOH, MPA and STB said in an earlier statement that the ship had submitted a “maritime declaration of health” at 6am on Tuesday, stating that none of its passengers and crew on board are febrile or have exhibited other symptoms of respiratory illness. The penalty for false declaration includes up to six months’ imprisonment. 

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The ship was allowed to berth at 8am as scheduled. Passengers started to disembark at around 9am, after the ship declared that no one had a fever or other respiratory symptoms and the ship’s doctor had checked that all passengers and crew were well.

Disembarking passengers also underwent thermal and visual screening by MOH-licensed healthcare providers and were taken by bus directly to the airport or to their hotels.

By noon, more than 600 passengers on board the cruise ship had disembarked.

MOH, MPA and STB had earlier said that all passengers onboard the ship with recent travel history to affected regions within the last 14 days have been screened by MOH-licensed doctors and have been certified to travel.

These passengers had entered Singapore and boarded the ship before the March 4 travel ban had been implemented.

The travel ban issued on March 4 disallows new visitors with recent travel history to Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days from entering or transiting through Singapore due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in those areas.

MPA has implemented temperature screening at all sea checkpoints for arriving passengers and crew since Jan 24. Cruise terminal operators have implemented temperature screening for departing passengers since Feb 8 and cruise lines also disinfect their ships in-between sailings.