VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta - Dream Cruises announced that departures of its several cruise ships were suspended over the current 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and sent several of its crew back home, including 188 Indonesians employed at World Dream.

Speaking in connection with the repatriation of these 188 Indonesians, President of Dream Cruises Michael Goh noted in his press statement ANTARA quoted in Jakarta on Monday that they had been transferred to an Indonesian naval ship.

The transfer was conducted by the authority of this Genting Hong Kong-owned cruise line to the naval ship in the international waters near the Indonesian islands of Bintan in Riau Islands Province, he remarked in his statement on Sunday.

The Indonesian health authorities will conduct a thorough medical check-up of the crew members of the World Dream cruise ship as part of their precautionary measures to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dream Cruises reported earlier that Hong Kong's Department of Health had confirmed that all guests and crew onboard World Dream had cleared extensive health screenings and temperature checks.

All samples taken from the 1,814 crew members had tested negative for COVID-19, the Dream Cruises authorities confirmed in the recent World Dream Situation Report.

The COVID-19 outbreak, which initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, has forced several airliners, including national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, to suspend direct flights to and from mainland China.

The ongoing concerns surrounding this deadly virus outbreak has also compelled Dream Cruises to suspend the departures of its several cruise ships, including those of World Dream and Explorer Dream.

According to this cruise line's website, World Dream had cancelled its departure from Keelung from February 11, 2020, to March 20, 2020, as well as on March 23, 2020, and on March 27, 2020, and March 28, 2020.

The Explorer Dream ship's departure had also been cancelled from March 1, 2020, to April 4, 2020, while the operations of Genting Dream had also been suspended from Singapore starting from February 23, 2020.

The decision was taken to help curtail the spread of COVID-19 and due to tightening travel restrictions by various countries. Genting Dream will resume operations in Singapore from March 27, 2020, according to this award-winning cruise line.

Goh affirmed that the health and safety of his cruise ships' guests and crew members remain his primary concern.

To this end, since the onset of the virus outbreak, Dream Cruises has worked with various local and regional authorities in implementing stringent precautionary measures across its fleet to safeguard the wellbeing of its guests and crew.

"We are thankful there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 while on board or transmitted via any of Dream Cruises' ships," he noted.

North Bali and Surabaya are on the list of this cruise line's popular destinations apart from Port Klang and Penang, Malaysia, as well as Phuket, Thailand. (ANTARA)