PHNOM PENH, Feb. 19 (Xinhua/GNA) – Cambodia
on Wednesday allowed the remaining 233 passengers on board the Westerdam cruise
ship to disembark after test results showed that none of them was positive for
the COVID-19.
Cambodian Minister of Public Works and
Transport Sun Chanthol and Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line,
the ship operator, flew from capital Phnom Penh to greet them at the
Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) in southwestern Sihanoukville when they
left the ship.
Speaking to reporters at the site, Chanthol
said the passengers will travel to Phnom Penh for flights home, as the ship,
with remaining 747 crew on board, will depart for Manila, the Philippines
later.
“This is the last batch of 233
passengers who disembarked the ship.
“They will travel by buses to Sokha Hotel in
Phnom Penh, and tomorrow, they will fly to their respective countries,” he
said.
“We’re thankful to the Cambodian
government, the prime minister, and all the citizens of Cambodia for their warm
welcome and allowing us to come here and dock, and allowing their safe
transition home,” said Holland America Line President Ashford.
“We’re very grateful to all of you for
the way you received our company and our guests.” He said Cambodia is a
wonderful place, and people here treat visitors really well.
“Personally, I’m going to come back
with my family to spend some time here to get a chance to explore and enjoy the
Cambodia’s hospitality,” he said.
The last-batch disembarkation came after the
Ministry of Health said lab tests on the remaining Westerdam passengers had
ended, and the results showed that none of them was positive for the COVID-19.
“The samples of 781 Westerdam cruise
ship passengers in Sihanoukville and in Phnom Penh had been tested (by the
Pasteur Institute) and the results were negative for the COVID-19,” the
ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Cambodia had provided retests to those
remaining passengers after a passenger who had left Cambodia had been tested
positive for COVID-19 while transiting in Malaysia.
Malaysian health authorities identified her
as an 83-year-old American. She is currently in stable condition, and her
husband tested negative for the virus.
The Holland America Line said in a press
release on Wednesday that the Westerdam will remain alongside in Sihanoukville
for at least a few more days until testing is complete on the 747 crew members
on board.
Cambodia allowed the Westerdam, which had
been denied entry to port by Thailand, Japan, China’s Taiwan, Guam and the
Philippines due to fears over the COVID-19, to dock at its sea port of
Sihanoukville on Feb. 13 and passengers had been allowed to disembark on Feb.
14 after 20 ill passengers had tested negative for the virus.
The ship carried a total of 1,455 passengers
and 802 crew members.
GNA