Nearly 3,000 cruise ship crew members quarantined on a German passenger liner are due to undergo tests for the Coronavirus (COVID-19), according to the UK-based shipowner TUI Travel Plc announced on Sunday, May 3.
Mein Schiff 3 was used to repatriate a total of 2899 TUI employees and crew back to Germany. Problems began after the vessel docked at Port Cuxhaven Germany (on April 28) with 15 crew experiencing flu-like symptoms. One of them tested Coronavirus-positive on Friday, May 1, forcing TUI Cruises to quarantine the ship and everyone onboard.
According to TUI, the first wave of 229 tests on the shipboard personnel in contact with the infected crew member had come back negative. All of the rest crew will be tested on May 4. What happens next remains unclear even in case all the tests return negative.
One of the world's largest cruise companies by fleet capacity, TUI has agreed a EUR 1,8 billion (USD 1,9 billion) bridging loan from Germany's Government to cushion the impact of the pandemic.
For other Mein Schiff 3 accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.