Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have denied permission for a Bahamian cruise ship to make a stop in the city for fear of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The agency in charge of welcoming the Silver Spirit cruise ship, which is registered in the Bahamas, said it is unclear about the ship’s next port of call after the rejection.

The Bahamas-registered luxury cruise liner had earlier requested authorization to dock at a port in Ho Chi Minh City for its passengers to disembark on Friday.

The ship carries 826 people, including 423 passengers and a 403-member crew.

The ship’s owner, captain, and deputy captain are all Italian.

According to its initial itinerary, after disembarking, the Silver Spirit passengers would visit Ho Chi Minh City and some neighboring localities.

However, the municipal Department of Health on Thursday raised concerns about the risk of COVID-19 spreading from the cruise passengers.

It proposed that the ship be barred from docking at the city’s port.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee approved the proposal on Friday morning.

Silver Spirit is a luxury cruise ship operated by Silversea Cruises, a privately owned luxury cruise line with its headquarters in Monaco.

The sixth ship of the Silversea fleet, she entered service in 2009 after the US$250 million shipbuilding.

It had docked in Vietnam several times before.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, had infected over 133,900 people and killed more than 4,900 globally as of Friday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, has reported 1,016 deaths over 15,113 COVID-19 infections, according to the same source.

The death toll from COVID-19 outbreaks in the country saw the biggest daily rise by 189, or 23 percent, in absolute terms on Thursday since the contagion first came to light on February 21, Reuters reported.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 44 infections, including 30 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, nine British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26. The 28 active cases in the country are still being treated. 

Patient No. 17, a Hanoi resident, was confirmed on Friday last week, 21 days since Vietnam had reported its last infection. 

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