Coronavirus: Four Die on Stranded Dutch Cruise Ship

Four passengers died on board a cruise ship carrying dozens of people with flu-like symptoms who were stranded on the Pacific coast of South America for several days, the company said on Friday.

Zaandam, with 1,800 passengers on board, is currently in Panama’s territorial waters, having been prevented from docking in several countries due to fears of coronavirus.

“Holland America Line can confirm that four older guests have died in Zaandam,” the Dutch company said in a statement.

“Yesterday, several patients with respiratory symptoms were tested for COVID-19 and two individuals were positive.”

Zaandam left Buenos Aires on March 7 and was due to arrive last Saturday in San Antonio, near Santiago, Chile.

Since a brief stop in Punta Arenas, in Chilean Patagonia, on March 14, she has been displaced from several ports after reporting that 42 people on board were suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Trying to go to Florida, but to get there, it must go through the Panama Canal. On Friday, authorities denied the ship access to the waterway.

Holland America sent another cruise ship, Rotterdam, carrying COVID-19 test kits, supplies and relief teams to find Zaandam in Panama waters.

The company said that 53 of the 1,243 guests and 85 of the 586’s crew aboard Zaandam “reported to the ship’s medical center with flu-like symptoms”.

She plans to transfer passengers who were not sick or exposed to someone who was in Rotterdam, leaving sick passengers and the entire crew on board Zaandam.

“While the plan for the two ships is still being finalized, we continue to work with Panamanian authorities to approve the transit of the Panama Canal to sail to Fort Lauderdale, Florida,” said Holland America.

On Wednesday, Panamanian Health Minister Rosario Turner said Zaandam would be allowed to pass through the channel.

But on Friday morning, Panama’s waterway administrator, Ricaurte Vasquez, said the Ministry of Health had denied access to the ship.