Artania departs as crew member becomes youngest to die in Australia of COVID-19

July 2019, MV Artania arriving to Tallinn, making the Baltic Sea itinerary. At a ceremony in Southampton, England, on 15 November 1984, the ship was named Royal Princess by Diana, Princess of Wales.
By Alexandra Coulton


After almost a month-long showdown with authorities, the MV Artania has left Western Australia just after one of its crew members became the youngest person to die of COVID-19 in the country.

The German cruise ship has been docked in Fremantle Port for the past three weeks despite the Australian Border Force (ABF) instructing it to leave Fremantle after disembarking a majority of its guests on 2 April. Artania remained in case any of the 450 people still on board were to fall sick.

Of the 800 passengers on board, at least 40 were taken to hospitals in Perth while the rest were flown back to Germany on chartered flights.

In total 81 passengers and crew have so far tested positive for COVID-19, ABC News reported.

A 42-year-old crew member from the Philippines became the youngest person to die of COVID-19 in Australia after being taken to Royal Perth Hospital several days ago. It is understood he had other health issues.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said the man must have had the job of a lifetime.

“This is obviously someone who had the job of a lifetime, had the opportunities to travel the world, that’s denied to many other people in their country,” he said, according to ABC News.

“It’s very sad that it has come to this.”

The ship left Fremantle on Saturday after a lengthy operation where crew and passengers were taken on and off the ship.

ABC News reported that approximately 36 crew members were taken to a hotel in Perth’s CBD to undergo medical monitoring and were expected to fly out of Perth over the weekend along with 25 passengers.

63 passengers and crew members were also taken from Perth back to the ship, which left carrying 411 people.

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