1240 German cruisers stranded in Cape Town South Africa after their ship was quarantined for nearly a week due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) scare had either begun their trip back home or would do so in the next day, SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority) announced on Sunday, March 22.
The 1700+ passengers and crew on AIDAmira had been unable to leave the liner since March 16, after a crew on a cargo ship (who shared a plane with 6 cruise tourists) showed Coronavirus symptoms.
Port authorities quarantined the Italy-flagged vessel of AIDA while the 6 passengers were tested for COVID-19. All tests returned negative. Authorities on Saturday, March 21, bussed the first 276 passengers to Cape Town international airport where they caught special flights chartered by the German government.
On Sunday, around 658 passengers were due to leave, with the last leaving scheduled on Monday.
From March 18 South Africa imposed new regulations that banned all cruise ships from the country's ports and prohibited crew members and travelers from getting on or off ships.
For other AIDAmira accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.