PANAMA CITY: Four passengers have died on board the MS Zaandam, a cruise ship currently off the coast of Panama with over 130 guests suffering from influenza-like symptoms, at least two of whom have coronavirus, the vessel’s operator said on Friday.
Zaandam had been on a South American cruise that departed Argentina on March 7 and had been scheduled to end in San Antonio, Chile on March 21. Nobody has disembarked from the ship since it docked in Punta Arenas, Chile nearly two weeks ago.
Holland America Line, the operator, said in a statement it “can confirm that four older guests have passed away.”
All told, there are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board, as well as four doctors and four nurses, the statement said.
Significant numbers of US, Canadian, Australian, UK and Dutch citizens are among passengers stuck on board, according to media reports from their respective countries.
Ian Rae, a London-based Scotsman who said he was a passenger, tweeted praise for the operator’s efforts to get medical supplies on board the ship, and struck an upbeat note.
“Judging by the small boats coming with photographers to photo us, the news is out that we have Covid-19 and deaths on board. Still feeling upbeat and ready to face the challenge,” Rae wrote on Twitter on Friday afternoon.
Guests have been asked to self-isolate since March 22 and public spaces on the 238 meter (781 foot) vessel are closed.
Some 53 guests and 85 crew have reported to the medical center with flu-like symptoms, the operator added, noting that “all ports” along Zaandam’s route are closed to cruise ships.
The cruise operator said it wants to transfer groups of healthy Zaandam passengers to its sister ship Rotterdam, which is now alongside the vessel of Panama.
Holland America Line said it was still working with the Panamanian authorities to see if it could get approval to transit the Panama Canal and sail to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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Four passengers die on cruise ship with coronavirus outbreak off Panama
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Four passengers die on cruise ship with coronavirus outbreak off Panama
- Holland America Line, the operator of the MS Zaandam, said in a statement it can confirm that four older guests have passed away
- Significant numbers of US, Canadian, Australian, UK and Dutch citizens are among passengers stuck on board
UK Starmer calls for ‘calm discussion’ to avert trade war with US over Greenland
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Monday for calm discussion to avert a possible trade war with the United States over Greenland, appealing to President Donald Trump to respect alliances such as NATO rather than undermine them.
All but ruling out retaliatory levies against the United States if Trump carried out his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Britain and seven other countries unless the US was allowed to buy Greenland, Starmer sought to de-escalate the war of words.
He used an early morning
press conference
to set out what he described as the values underpinning his approach toward Trump, which has been criticized by opposition politicians for being too weak, by saying “pragmatic does not mean being passive.”
STARMER SAYS TARIFFS SHOULD NOT BE USED AGAINST ALLIES
After telling Trump that his threatened tariffs were wrong on Sunday, Starmer doubled down to say he would use “the full strength of government” to try to stop the US decision, one, he said, that could only hurt already stretched households.
“Tariffs should not be used against allies in this way,” Starmer said, adding that he was not looking to escalate a tariff war at this point.
“A tariff war is in nobody’s interests, and we have not got to that stage. And my focus, therefore, is making sure we don’t get to that stage.”
Trump threatened tariffs on imports from the eight countries which sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland last week, following Trump’s repeated statements he wanted to take over Denmark’s vast Arctic island to ensure US security.
Starmer said he
told Trump
on Sunday those forces were “clearly there to assess and work on risk from the Russians.” He said he hoped that there was now “real clarity” about that.
The British prime minister signalled his approach would differ from that of the European Union, which has discussed options to respond, including a
package of tariffs
on 93 billion euros ($107.7 billion) of US imports.
Instead, he said, Britain should work to nurture a relationship with the United States that was crucial for UK security, intelligence and defense, while disagreeing with the tariff threat and working diplomatically to avert it.
Starmer said the threats risked causing a “downward spiral” for Britain, in terms of trade and the weakening of alliances.
“I do not want to see that happen,” he said, but he added: “That doesn’t mean that we put to one side our principles and our values. Quite the contrary, we’re very clear about what they are.”
Starmer has built a solid relationship with Trump and in May last year he became the first leader to secure a deal to lower some tariffs.
Asked if he thought Trump was genuinely considering
military action, Starmer said: “I don’t, actually. I think that this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion.”
All but ruling out retaliatory levies against the United States if Trump carried out his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Britain and seven other countries unless the US was allowed to buy Greenland, Starmer sought to de-escalate the war of words.
He used an early morning
press conference
to set out what he described as the values underpinning his approach toward Trump, which has been criticized by opposition politicians for being too weak, by saying “pragmatic does not mean being passive.”
STARMER SAYS TARIFFS SHOULD NOT BE USED AGAINST ALLIES
After telling Trump that his threatened tariffs were wrong on Sunday, Starmer doubled down to say he would use “the full strength of government” to try to stop the US decision, one, he said, that could only hurt already stretched households.
“Tariffs should not be used against allies in this way,” Starmer said, adding that he was not looking to escalate a tariff war at this point.
“A tariff war is in nobody’s interests, and we have not got to that stage. And my focus, therefore, is making sure we don’t get to that stage.”
Trump threatened tariffs on imports from the eight countries which sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland last week, following Trump’s repeated statements he wanted to take over Denmark’s vast Arctic island to ensure US security.
Starmer said he
told Trump
on Sunday those forces were “clearly there to assess and work on risk from the Russians.” He said he hoped that there was now “real clarity” about that.
The British prime minister signalled his approach would differ from that of the European Union, which has discussed options to respond, including a
package of tariffs
on 93 billion euros ($107.7 billion) of US imports.
Instead, he said, Britain should work to nurture a relationship with the United States that was crucial for UK security, intelligence and defense, while disagreeing with the tariff threat and working diplomatically to avert it.
Starmer said the threats risked causing a “downward spiral” for Britain, in terms of trade and the weakening of alliances.
“I do not want to see that happen,” he said, but he added: “That doesn’t mean that we put to one side our principles and our values. Quite the contrary, we’re very clear about what they are.”
Starmer has built a solid relationship with Trump and in May last year he became the first leader to secure a deal to lower some tariffs.
Asked if he thought Trump was genuinely considering
military action, Starmer said: “I don’t, actually. I think that this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion.”
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