8 crew on the Fred Olsen Cruise Line's ship Black Watch have tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) and results are awaited for further 6. The treatment of the crew is being managed onboard with no plans for anyone to disembark.
Black Watch is one of company's 4 liners currently anchored in Firth of Forth (near Port Rosyth-Edinburgh (Scotland), all being passenger-free and with suspended shipping operations. In March, the fleetmate Braemar became stranded in the Caribbean with 5 people onboard tested positive.
A company spokeswoman said the vessel was operating under the public health guidance. All the crew were isolated in separate passenger staterooms and social gatherings onboard are not allowed. The crew were only leaving their rooms in order to perform essential duties, such as bridge and engine watch as well as the preparation of food. Those who tested positive or feeling unwell were not undertaking any duties.
A spokeswoman for Forth Ports said that as the statutory river authority they had instructed that the vessel remained anchored until "the appropriate period of self-isolation" was complete.
When Fred Olsen announced that the fleet is anchoring in the estuary, it said that each would retain only limited crew onboard for essential operations.
For other Black Watch accidents and incidents see at 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.