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Hundreds of Indonesian crew members of the MS Island Princess cruise ship arrived at the Tanjung Priok Harbour in Jakarta on Wednesday (June 10, 2020). (ANTARA/HO-Navy Command I Fleet Document)

A total of 241 Indonesian crew members of the MS Island Princess cruise ship arrived at the Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta, on Wednesday.

The crew members were transported from the cruise ship to the dock with the help of four connecting vessels with a capacity of 40 passengers each.

Their disembarkation was carried out by a task force team, in accordance with the health protocols. The ship’s crew and their luggage was sprayed with disinfectant liquid as soon as they arrived at the dock.

Their belongings were also scanned using X-rays at the Customs and Military Police Base, Navy AL III / Jakarta.

Commander of the Indonesian Navy Base III, Brigadier General Hermanto, who served as the task force’s commander, said the crew will be taken to the Pullman Central Park Hotel in Jakarta, where they will also undergo COVID-19 testing.

"If there are any (test) results that come back positive, the (concerned) ship crew members will be taken to the Athlete's Village Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran, Jakarta," Hermanto said in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The crew will also be required to undergo independent isolation for three to four days, provided that each person occupies one hotel room, he informed. The crew will then continue the independent isolation in their hometowns, he added.

The Bermuda-flagged MS Island Princess cruise ship sailed from Cape Town, South Africa, to Jakarta to complete the permit, Hermanto stated.

The cruise ship, which operates out of Great Britain and the United States, will dock in Jakarta for five days, before continuing its voyage to Manila, Philippines.

The return of 241 Indonesian crew members of the MS Island Princess cruise ship was the 13th such disembarkation overseen by the Navy's Fleet Command I Task Force in Jakarta.

Earlier, on June 8, 2020, the Jakarta Fleet Command Task Force had helped 343 Indonesian crew members disembark from the MV Rotterdam cruise ship at the same location. It was the 12th ship from which Indonesians were repatriated by the task force.

So far, a total of 3,402 Indonesian crew members have been repatriated to Jakarta, and the number is expected to increase until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

The stakeholders involved in the repatriation efforts include the National Military Force, Police Force, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, immigration officers, port authorities, and Customs officials.(ANTARA)