The Norwegian cargo and passenger shipping company Hurtigruten, which also operates expedition cruises, has had a coronavirus outbreak on the MS Road Amundsen ship, where 36 crew members and several passengers have tested positive.
As a result, it has suspended all expedition cruises of the MS Roald Amundsen, MS Fridtoj Nansen, and MS Spitsbergen until further notice. Its cargo and passenger operations along the Norwegian coast will continue.
The company's CEO, Daniel Skjeldam, has acknowledged errors in the implementation of its own health protocol. Quarantines for foreign crew members were not managed properly. “The advice and recommendations of the National Institute of Public Health were not communicated to those of us responsible for making decisions. This led us to make incorrect decisions, and we also lacked good communication,” Skjeldam said.
“If we had followed our own protocols, we probably wouldn’t have had any infections on board, although there is no guarantee of that.”
Tests revealed that 36 of the 158 crew members are infected with coronavirus, with four of them hospitalized in Tromsø. Five passengers have also tested positive.
Meanwhile, four crew members of the MS Fridtjof Nansen remain in isolation with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. The ship is carrying 171 passengers and 162 crew members and was on a cruise through the Norwegian Fjords, having embarked in Hamburg. All crew members and passengers are being tested and, in the meantime, are confined to their cabins.
The MS Spitsbergen has no suspected cases but is heading to Tromsø to carry out tests on both crew and passengers.
