Holland America Line’s Westerdam has reportedly been denied entry to Laem Chabang, Bangkok, the latest port to which the ship had been sailing after being denied entry to Yokohama, Japan.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Thailand Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that he had refused the ship’s permission to disembark.
“We are aware of the reports regarding the status of Westerdam’s call to Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand,” Holland America said in a statement posted to its Twitter account. “We are actively working this matter & will provide an update when able. We know this is confusing for our guests and their families & we greatly appreciate their patience.”
The ship has been sailing on a cruise that departed February 1 that was originally scheduled to debark in Shanghai. Holland America attempted to change that port to Yokohama due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the ship was denied entry by Japanese health authorities. After that, the cruise line said it had received conditional preliminary clearance for the ship to debark in two ports, after which the line announced that the ship would end its cruise in Laem Chabang.
Throughout the port changes Holland America has said that the line has no reason to believe that there are any cases of the coronavirus onboard. The line has also said that the ship has sufficient fuel and provisions to last until the end of the voyage, which had originally been scheduled for February 15.
There are over 40,500 cases of the coronavirus in 25 countries worldwide, according to the latest update from the World Health Organization. There have been 910 deaths from the disease thus far, all except one in China.
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