Costa Fortuna Heads for Singapore after Being Denied Entry in 2 Countries

The Costa Fortuna cruise ship will dock in Singapore on March 10 after it was turned away from ports in Thailand and Malaysia over coronavirus scare.

This was confirmed by Italian cruise line Costa Cruises as well as the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA Singapore) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

During the past few days, the ship was not allowed to call in Thailand and Malaysia because of the restrictions recently introduced in those countries for people coming from Italy.

“Costa Fortuna is heading towards Singapore where it is due to end its cruise on March 10 as planned,” Costa Cruises said.

“Costa Crociere wishes to confirm that the health situation on board the ship does not present any issue,” the cruise line stressed.

“The doctor on board the cruise ship will check on passengers and crew in order to ensure that they are healthy prior to disembarkation,” MPA Singapore said in a separate statement.

“All passengers entering Singapore are required to undergo temperature screening as a precautionary measure. Additionally, passengers entering Singapore and exhibiting fever and/or other symptoms of respiratory illness but who do not meet the Ministry of Health’s clinical case definition may be required to undergo a COVID-19 swab test,” MPA added.

All of Costa Fortuna passengers had earlier embarked from Singapore and completed pre-embarkation checks prior to boarding. The ship, which is homeported in Singapore, last departed the port on March 3.

Singapore’s cruise terminals remain open to scheduled cruise calls out of Singapore. Over the past two weeks, Singapore has handled more than 10 scheduled calls by cruise ships and disembarked more than 5,000 passengers. Unscheduled calls have been forbidden in Singapore since February 24.

Costa Cruises also informed it would cancel the next cruise of Costa Fortuna due to depart on March 10 from Singapore.

“The decision was deemed necessary on the basis of the restrictive measures currently applied by ports included in the ship’s itinerary,” the cruise company explained.