Stranded cruise ship passengers disembark in Honolulu
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Honolulu, HI (KITV ) — Some of the more than 2,000 passengers on-board the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship that’s been docked at Honolulu Harbor since Sunday were let off the vessel on Monday.
According to the the Hawaii Department of Transportation, emptying the ship is a 2-day process, involving dozens of bus rides and more than 10 charter flights.
The Norwegian Jewel started its journey on February 28th from Sydney, Australia. After a stop in Fiji, it was supposed to go to French Polynesia but it was rejected from docking due to growing concerns over COVID-19.
The Jewel stopped in American Samoa to refuel but passengers weren’t allowed disembark. To help, Hawaii showed them some aloha by allowing passengers to disembark.
The DOT claims none of the passengers are showing symptoms of COVID-19, but as a precaution, contact with the general public will be minimal.
“The cruise ship passengers are going straight from the ship to medical screenings, to a chartered bus that’s taking them directly to the airport and not the main terminal, to the south ramp, where they are isolated again and getting on chartered planes where they’ll leave the state,” said Tim Sakahara, the DOT Director of Communications.
The last charter flight for passengers is excepted to leave Tuesday afternoon.
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