Passengers on board the MSC Grandiosa have not been allowed to disembark in Malta over a suspected case of Covid-19 on board, The Malta Independent is informed.

The ship, which docked in Malta on Friday morning, was not allowed by health authorities to disembark its passengers in Valletta after the ship’s captain notified Maltese authorities that they had a suspected Covid-19 case on board.

The ship was allowed to dock in Malta in order to take on supplies, but passengers had to remain on board.

The cruise liner has since left Malta.

This is the first incident where a cruise liner was forced not to disembark passengers since trips re-opened to Malta. 

The MSC Grandiosa has been visiting Malta as part of its Western Mediterranean route, in which it calls at various Italian ports, since 16 August.

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Photo: Michael Camilleri