Cruise ship can have help but no berth, Anutin insists
The government is willing to provide humanitarian aid to the passengers and crew of the cruise ship Westerdam but will not allow them to dock at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi lest anyone on board be carrying the Covid-19 coronavirus, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul reaffirmed on Wednesday (February 12).
The Holland America Line vessel lists a disembarking at Laem Chabang Port on Thursday on its online itinerary as part of a cruise taking in Taiwan and Japan.
Passengers were scheduled to be transported from there to Don Mueang International Airport to board planes taking them home.
But Anutin, who is also a deputy prime minister, said there had been no formal request from the ship’s captain to enter Thai waters and insisted Thailand was not on the vessel’s original route.
“The government will provide humanitarian aid to the passengers and crew, who include 19 Thais,” he said. “The aid would include food, medicines and fuel to continue its course."
“Although the World Health Organisation has said there are no Covid-19 infections on the ship, the Thai government would need to inspect the ship and confirm it’s clean before allowing it to dock at the port.”
The Westerdam left Singapore on January 16 for a month’s tour of Asia, picking up 600 passengers in Hong Kong on February 1.
It has also been denied berthing privileges in the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan out of fear of contagion.