Cruise ships

A cruise ship that has sailed away from the U.S. is due to arrive in Turkey later this month to bring its 36 Turkish employees back home, who have been stuck in the vessel amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Health authorities monitoring the 383 passengers and crew on a ferry that is in quarantine off the coast of Piraeus on Thursday said that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on board the vessel has jumped to at least 120 from an initial 20.

A crew member on an Italian cruise ship off the coast of Cyprus was taken to hospital after showing suspected symptoms of the coronavirus.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the Costa Diadema arrived at Limassol port in the early morning hours on Tuesday, where an individual on the cruise liner was transported to Limassol General Hospital.

Greece reported its tenth case of coronavirus on Thursday, a person related to an individual who recently traveled to Israel and Egypt, health authorities said.

Separately, health authorities dismissed media reports that a Swiss-owned cruise ship carrying 2,570 passengers and bound for the island of Corfu in western Greece, had been placed under quarantine due to coronavirus fears.

About 6,000 people are blocked on a cruise ship in Cozumel, Mexico, to be tested for the new coronavirus, BTA reported.

The MSC Meraviglia ship was allowed to dock in Mexico, a day after MSC Cruises expressed dismay that authorities in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands had refused its cruise liner. This happened after a crew member was diagnosed with the flu.

The plight of the cruise ship off Japan with more than 200 coronavirus infections and the shunning of another luxury liner by five ports despite no known cases has led to a sharp change in tack for an industry in shock: Avoid Asia.

A Romanian citizen aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked in Japan's territorial waters, has tested positive for the viral pneumonia virus (coronavirus - COVID-19), the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) has informed on Thursday. The Romanian citizen has been transferred for isolation and treatment at a Japanese hospital specialised for this kind of situations, MAE mentioned.

The Costa Crociere cruise ship carrying about 6,000 passengers was blocked at the port of Civitavecchia (about 100 km south of Rome) after two patients from Hong Kong showed symptomes of infectious disease. The tourists have been found to have fever and respiratory problems.

Leading cruise operator MSC Cruises announced on Wednesday in Athens a first for the Swiss-based operator: the launch of a new route across the Aegean and the East Mediterranean that will have Piraeus as its home port.

In 2020, Greece will announce an international tender for the operation of 10 major regional ports. This was stated by Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Giannis Plakiotakis at a meeting with representatives of the Greece's Association of Cruise Ship Owners.