VASCO
The ‘Cordelia Empress’ cruise ship which arrived with 2017 passengers and crew in the State, only to have 66 of them test Covid positive, finally left the state amid chaotic moments among passengers late Monday night.
The ship left the port with almost all the passengers, including 60 Covid positive passengers, but left behind 6 Covid positive crew members and 13 Covid negative passengers.
Speaking to reporters, Govind Pernulkar, senior manager of the J M Baxi Shipping agency, said the initial report had suggested that only one crew member had tested positive.
"As news broke out that the passenger had tested positive, the vessel was kept outside and later as per SOPs it was decided to bring the ship to the berth and test all passengers and crew.”
“We later realised that 66 passengers, including 6 crew members, had tested positive. The entire state government team, including the collector, dy collector, police, port health officer and medical team was present all day. Under the collector's guidance, we decided to shift all 66 Covid positive people to the hospital," said Pernulkar.
"Initially, we got the six crew members off the ship and shifted them to the hospital and we tried to get the remaining 60 passengers off the vessel. However, they did not agree and insisted that they will sail back on the ship and there was utter chaos.”
“Some passengers who tested positive also had family members on board the ship and they were not willing to let them get off the ship. A few passengers even complained to the collector that they were being forced to get off the ship,” said Pernulkar.
Pernulkar said some people were taken to the hospital but other passengers demanded that they be taken back on the ship and insisted that they would sail back while keeping the 60 Covid positive passengers in isolation.
“However, since some passengers insisted that they did not want to be treated in Goa and insisted on sailing back, we could not force them and it was decided that ship would return with all passengers, leaving behind the 6 crew members who had already been hospitalised.”
“Just as the ship was about to leave, there was further chaos and 13 passengers who had tested negative said they did not want to sail back to Mumbai and forcibly got off in Goa. The ship finally sailed with almost all passengers, leaving behind 13 Covid negative passengers and six Covid positive crew members," said Pernulkar.
"It was a challenging situation for the entire government team and our shipping agency team as there was utter chaos among the people on board and it was difficult to manage them. While some wanted to get off the ship, some wanted to sail back to Mumbai.”
“There was also some commotion when we tried to put a gangway for the entry and exit of passengers on the ship. Finally, the state government team and our shipping agency team successfully managed to sail the ship out from Goa," said Pernulkar, while thanking the collector and all agencies involved in the day-long testing of passengers and crew.
