The Ruby Princess cruise ship off the coast of Sydney on Saturday.
Photo: steven saphore/epa/ShutterstockSYDNEY—Australian police have launched a criminal investigation into whether staff of a cruise ship that docked in Sydney misled authorities about a coronavirus outbreak among passengers and crew aboard.
The crew of the Ruby Princess, operated by Carnival Australia, had told authorities that some passengers were suffering from flulike symptoms when the cruise ship docked in Sydney last month, but that Covid-19—the illness caused by the new coronavirus—wasn’t an issue, police say.
More than 660 people from the ship, mainly passengers, have now tested positive for the new coronavirus, and 11 passengers have died. They account for more than 10% of Australia’s 5,687 cases and nearly a third of deaths.
New South Wales state Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said he has reviewed information, including a 17-minute emergency call from the ship on March 18, and decided that the only way to determine whether laws were broken is through a criminal investigation.
“There appears to have been an exceptional amount of effort put in by [port officials] to determine the true nature of the conditions on board—and even delayed the vessel’s arrival until they were provided additional information,” Mr. Fuller said.
Government officials and Carnival Australia have been under fire since the ship’s 2,700 passengers freely disembarked in Sydney on March 19, despite some of them showing signs of respiratory illness. Passengers were allowed to travel home and only later advised to quarantine.
Carnival Australia is part of Carnival Corp., the world’s biggest cruise operator, which also operates the Diamond Princess, where dozens of passengers became infected with the coronavirus when it docked in Japan in February. That ship was quarantined for two weeks.
Another Carnival Corp. cruise ship, the Grand Princess, became embroiled in a coronavirus outbreak on a two-week voyage to Hawaii with a stop in Mexico last month.
A Carnival Australia spokesman said the company will willingly participate in the investigation.
“Carnival Australia will vigorously respond to any allegations of which there must now be full disclosure and the basis for them,” he added.
The Australian police investigation will involve interviewing thousands of witnesses, including the Ruby Princess’ captain and doctors, the crew and passengers, and staff from various government offices and agencies.
Up to 200 of the 1,040 crew members currently on board the vessel, sitting in waters off the coast of Sydney, are displaying symptoms, while 16 crew members have returned positive results, police said.
Cruise ships are one of the largest sources of Australia’s coronavirus cases from overseas, according to health authorities, on par with people who acquired the illness in Europe.
In a separate police operation overnight Saturday, dubbed “Operation Nemesis,” some 750,000 tons of supplies and more than 1,300 foreign crew members were moved between five cruise ships, before they departed Australian waters. It was the largest peacetime maritime operation in Sydney’s history.
Ports around the globe are turning cruise ships away en masse amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Last month, Australia ordered all cruise ships to leave its waters by June 15 or face jail or hefty fines.
The five cruise ships that departed, all operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., returned to their home ports with only crew aboard. Passengers had disembarked earlier. The crew were distributed among the departing ships based on their nationalities and the ship’s destinations across the globe, police said.
“It is about getting some of these people on the cruise ships back to their home countries, back with their families,” said Police Superintendent Steve Hegarty.
Several crew from one of the ships, Radiance of the Seas, earlier tested positive for coronavirus and were evacuated to hospitals. It couldn’t be determined how many others have the virus.
Write to Rachel Pannett at rachel.pannett@wsj.com
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2020-04-05 17:29:00Z
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