Singapore cruise passengers stuck amid worst fear

Nearly 1,700 passengers on a Royal Caribbean "cruise-to-nowhere" from Singapore remained confined in their cabins for more than 14 hours yesterday after a Covid-19 case was detected on board, forcing the ship back to port.

All passengers aboard the Quantum of the Seas vessel had cleared a mandatory test for the virus up to three days before the four-day cruise started on Monday.

Authorities said close contacts of the patient among the 1,680 guests and 1,148 crew members on board have so far tested negative and that all passengers must isolate in their rooms as contact tracing continued.

The patient, an 83-year-old male, had reported to the ship's medical center with diarrhea and an onboard test revealed the infection. He was taken to hospital after the ship returned to port.

Other guests were awakened with news of the infection in the early hours.

"I was like: 'There it goes, the worst fear has happened,' "said passenger Melvin Chew, 31, a business development manager.

The Quantum of the Seas returned to Singapore at 8am and passengers were still being asked to isolate in their cabins. All passengers will undergo mandatory testing before leaving the terminal.

The patient, wearing a white protective suit, was escorted down the ship's gangway to a waiting ambulance.

Soon after, the ship's captain told passengers over the tannoy that the ship was being deep-cleaned and that a further update would come.

"We do understand that this is not how you planned to spend your cruise and I am terribly sorry," the captain said.

The "cruise-to-nowhere" by Royal Caribbean is one of its first sailings since the company halted global operations in March due to the coronavirus.

The sailing in waters off Singapore is open only to Singapore residents as part of plans to revive its tourism industry.

Singapore, which has had just over 58,000 cases and 29 deaths, has been reporting less than a handful of daily infections in recent weeks.

Part of the precautions for cruises in Singapore involved predeparture testing within 48 to 72 hours before boarding and for guests to carry an electronic contact tracing device, wear masks and keep social distancing.

Diseases experts said the predeparture test may have been a false negative or did not pick up fragments of an old virus or the patient may have been incubating at the time or was infected between the test and boarding.