Two cruise ships agree to leave Australian waters as police raise hopes of resolving standoff

The stalemate over eight cruise ships off Australia’s east coast appears to be resolving after two ships agreed to leave Australian waters and health assessments of crew were taking place on the Ruby Princess, the ship linked to more than 550 cases of Covid-19 in Australia.

But one cruise line, believed to be Carnival, had asked to keep some ships in Australian waters, the head of Australian Border Force, Michael Outram, revealed. Discussions were continuing on Friday morning.

The New South Wales police commissioner, Mick Fuller, who has been given responsibility for dealing with the eight cruise ships off the state’s coast, said at his regular Friday morning briefing it had been a “positive day with border force, and two cruise liners are currently under way and out of NSW waters”.

Fuller thanked Carnival. The Pacific Explorer, owned by P&O/Carnival, and Carnival Splendour both appeared to be heading north along the coast on Friday.

Fuller said the government was now planning for Royal Caribbean’s five ships to be refuelled, restocked with healthy crew and to head to their port of origin by Sunday. The Ovation of the Seas came into Sydney Harbour on Thursday night to refuel. The Spectrum of the Seas remained off the coast.

Fuller said the situation with the Ruby Princess, which also remained offshore, was “moving in the right direction”.

A private medical company, Aspen Medical, had been contracted to undertake medical assessments and visited the Ruby Princess on Thursday.

The Ruby Princess had an outbreak of coronavirus among its passengers after they disembarked in Sydney on 19 March, leading to more than 340 cases in NSW and more than 200 more in other states – more than 10% of Australia’s cases overall.

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Since then several crew members had been taken from the ship for medical treatment. Fuller said one man was taken off on Thursday who needed more intense medical assistance.

“We will continue to take anyone off those ships who requires NSW health assistance,” he said.

“We’re waiting for an update from Aspen in relation to the Ruby Princess and the condition of the crew. However, again, I can say that after their initial inquiry, no additional crew members needed to come off,” he said.

“We are monitoring that regularly, and ports and police maritime will continue close contact with the captain of the ship and border force. We’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

Outram told Channel 7’s Sunrise that five members of the Aspen medical team, along with border force officers, had attended the Ruby Princess.

“The purpose wasn’t to assess all of the crew, it was to work with the medic, with the ship’s master, and to get a general assessment of what was going on,” he said.

He said he expected a further report on Friday, but given what had happened with the Ruby Princess it would be no surprise to see further cases among the crew members.

He said Fuller was right to worry about whether the NSW healthcare system would be able to cope with infections among the cruise ship crews, but there was also a duty of care owed to those on the ships.

There were still 21 cruise ships in Australian waters.

The government imposed a 30-day ban on foreign ships docking in Australian ports in March, but made exceptions for three ships that were already on their way, including Ruby Princess.

Outram said: “When the ban was put on cruise ships in the first place, the reason was because we were acutely aware all of these three ships with their passengers and crew could create a catastrophic effect on the Australian health system if they stay in our waters.

“We have managed to get rid of all of the passengers. You are still left with the crew in our waters. We want to get the ships gone, but of course, in doing so, we have to ensure we are not sending them into danger. We want to make sure we get the ships gone as soon as possible, but at the same time that we don’t put people in harm’s way.”

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Outram said they should go back to their home ports.

“This concept of a home port isn’t an abstract concept. If ever there was a time for ships to go back to where they’re registered, it’s a time of a global pandemic.”

He said a number of them had sought permission to stay.

“We are now working through that. A couple of large companies that we have worked with, like Royal Caribbean, they have been proactive in trying to get their ships out of our waters. Now we’re working with Carnival ships as well,” Outram said.

“My position is if their ships have no reason to be in our waters, if the crew are well, they need to move on,” he said.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, again defended NSW Health’s handling of the Ruby Princess saga, saying state “authorities had followed all existing protocols”.

But she said she had asked Fuller to conduct an investigation into what had occurred.