Ahead of docking at the Singapore port, Costa Fortuna declared that none of its passengers and crew on board are febrile or have exhibited other symptoms of respiratory illness.
For its scheduled call, the cruise ship submitted its Maritime Declaration of Health at 6am on Tuesday, March 10. It was then was allowed to berth at 8am as scheduled.
The penalty for false declaration includes up to six months’ imprisonment, said a joint statement by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
Passengers from the ship started to disembark at around 9am on Tuesday, with more than 600 passengers having disembarked by 12pm that day.
Costa Fortuna has informed that all passengers and crew are well and had been checked by the ship doctor. Upon disembarkation, they were further subjected to thermal and visual screenings by MOH-licensed healthcare providers.
Passengers were then bussed directly to the airport for their onward flights or to their hotels. Almost all foreign passengers will depart Singapore within the next two days, said the press release.
All passengers who had travel history to affected regions within the last 14 days, have completed enhanced one-on-one screening by doctors licensed by the MOH. They have been certified fit to travel.
These passengers had entered Singapore and boarded Costa Fortuna prior to the implementation of the travel ban and/or advisory on March 4. These passengers will stay onboard the ship and will be facilitated directly to the airport for their onward flights.