Zaandam cruise ship gets permission to cross Panama Canal and head to Port Everglades

Alex Harris
·1 min read

The Zaandam cruise ship has received permission to pass through the Panama Canal on its way to Port Everglades, where it will unload its increasingly sick passengers and crew.

The Panama Canal Authority announced the decision, a reversal of its previous stance, late Saturday night in a statement.

“The ship will be scheduled for transit after entering Canal waters, which has not occurred to-date. According to the Zaandam’s itinerary, the vessel was originally scheduled to transit on April 1,” the statement read.

The permission comes with an agreement that passengers and crew of the ship aren’t allowed to exit the ship and enter Panama.

“Panama will guarantee bio-security measures to protect the personnel who will participate in this manoeuvre and thus safeguard the health of Panamanians,” the government said in a statement reported by Reuters.

Passengers of Holland America’s cruise ship Zaandam are transferred to the Rotterdam cruise ship in Panama City bay on March 28, 2020. - Earlier Saturday, Panama’s maritime authority said healthy passengers were being evacuated from the Zaandam to another liner, the Rotterdam. The Zaandam cruise ship has been stranded at sea since March 14 after several South American ports refused to let it dock due to dozens of people aboard having shown flu-like symptoms. (Photo by Ivan PISARENKO / AFP) (Photo by IVAN PISARENKO/AFP via Getty Images)

Carnival Corp., said a second ship, the Rotterdam, will be able to transit the canal as well.

The company transferred hundreds of passengers from the Zaandam to the Rotterdam with little more than a temperature check and short questionnaire about whether they had symptoms of the coronavirus.

On Friday, Holland America Line said nearly 150 passengers and crew aboard the Zaandam were ill. Four elderly passengers have died and two people have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The company did not answer questions Saturday about the destination of the Rotterdam or offer updated numbers for the sick and COVID-positive on board.