The Holland America Line cruise ship MS Zaandam (HAL) is looking for a destination to dock. The ship is located off the coast of Panama. The cruise ship carried 1.282 passengers, 20 of whom were Dutch. Dozens of passengers and crew have reported flu symptoms.

"We work around the clock to find a destination for the ZaandamHolland America Line (HAL) President Orlando Ashford said in a statement.

On the cruise ship MS Zaandam, two infections with the corona virus were identified on Thursday. The HAL reported on Friday that four passengers have died. It is not known whether these passengers died from the effects of the COVID-19 virus. No statements have been made about the nationality of the victims. On Saturday, some of the passengers were transferred without symptoms to another cruise ship, the Rotterdam, where they have to stay in their cabins. The ships will stick together and, according to Ashford, can support each other to take care of the passengers.

The cruise ship MS Zaandam was on a cruise along the coast of South America and departed March 7 from the Argentinian city of Buenos Aires. The intention was to dock in Chile on March 21, but due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus, all ports where the ship intended to dock were locked and it would set course for the port of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, but that plan is now in place. on loose screws. Mayor Dean Trantalis of Fort Lauderdale said yesterday that docking the Zaandam near his city is not yet a foregone conclusion.

"The U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security must first prepare a plan to protect our communityHe wrote on Twitter.

Trump is going to talk to Governor Florida

(update April 1, 2020 - NOS) 

US President Trump talks with Florida state governor DeSantis about cruise ship Holland America Line's Zaandam. The coronavirus haunts the ship and people have since died. The ship has already been refused by several countries and is now heading for the final destination of Fort Lauderdale, but Florida does not want the ship to moor in that city. 

What exactly Trump is going to talk to with DeSantis is unclear. He just wanted to say that he was going to do “the right thing”. "Not just for us, but for humanity."

The Holland America Line boss, meanwhile, fears that the death toll on the Zaandam will increase if the ship is not allowed to dock. "Four people have already died and I fear more lives will be at risk," Orlando Ashford writes in an opinion piece in the local South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper. “On March 30, 76 passengers and 117 crew members showed flu-like symptoms. These unfortunates are involuntarily caught in a political game. ”

According to Governor DeSantis, care in his state, where nearly 7000 infections have been counted, is overloaded. "And then it doesn't make sense to drop these people off with us," he said. About 1000 people are still on board the Zaandam. 1400 other passengers and crew members who were apparently free of complaints have been transferred to sister ship Rotterdam.

Also read: Crisis requires modification of the taxi software at the central

MS Zaandam-Panama
Print Friendly, PDF & Email