Norovirus not Fred Olsen’s Fault

In an unusual development, Fred Olsen has spoken out about the behaviour of a cruise passenger it says is the cause of the outbreak of norovirus onboard ship. They have stated that the female passenger boarded the ship on 5 September already having the virus and that she was seen by the ship’s doctor who asked her to stay in her cabin as a quarantine precaution.

Instead, the cruise line says, she went out and about on the ship and, they claim, spread her virus throughout the ship which was already labouring under bad weather so that many people were using the community areas rather than being out on deck. This caused the virus to spread rapidly, leaving 87 passengers and 4 crew with the illness, out of the 1,800 people on board. Balmoral will dock at Mull and be inspected by health officials before sailing to Dublin. Two months ago 400 passengers on Marco Polo were struck down by norovirus.