Authorities meet to decide if cruise ship with sick, dead passengers will dock at Port Everglades

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Lawmakers are trying to decide whether or not they will allow cruise ships with several deceased and sick guests on board to dock in South Florida.

Broward County commissioners spent most of their day discussing the issue at a hearing held Tuesday.

Given the current climate and coronavirus concerns, the meeting was closed to the public. People can, however, watch it online.

The cruise ship in question is the MS Zaandam. At least nine passengers on board have tested positive for COVID-19, and four others have died.

On Friday, most of the healthy passengers were transferred to the Zaandam’s sister ship, the MS Rotterdam.

An official with Carnival Corporation, the company that owns Holland America, told commissioners that it’s urgent that passengers on both ships be allowed to disembark at Port Everglades.

“We are coming to the place of last resort,” said Bill Burke.

The family of one man who passed away on the ship said his death was sudden and is not believed to be related to COVID-19.

Kim Flores spoke to 7News over the phone and said her parents, 80-year-old Toni and 76-year-old Frank Kenney, are currently onboard the ship and she’s worried about what will happen to them. 

“We’re going to leave them out there to die? That’s our solution?” said Flores. 

Commissioners talked to Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian with the U.S. Coast Guard, who is in charge of Port Everglades.

Federal, state and local authorities will have to come to a decision so that passengers can leave the ship.

“The Seventh Coast Guard district’s commander, last night, issued a cabin of the port order that prohibits either Zaandam or Rotterdam, as well as a couple of other vessels from entering U.S. waters until they submit a complete plan for self-support of the medical issues occurring on board the vessels,” said Burdian.

Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said his county needs the medical supplies and equipment they have for their own residents.

“What we have to understand is, these are human beings also. Hopefully we can find a solution that can work for everyone,” he said.

But agreeing on a solution has proven tricky. Commissioners met for hours on Tuesday without reaching a decision.

“We’re working to put in place the flights that we need, charter the flights to get the people to where they need to go,” said Burke.

The cruise line initially said nearly 200 people were sick with flu-like symptoms, but because many have recovered, that number has dwindled to 16.

Commissioners have a unified command, a group of federal and local officials, that will ultimately decide whether to let the Zaandam in or not and what to do with the passengers.

“Everybody wants to get these people home. The question is how do you go about it in the most safe way?” said Broward Commissioner Mark Bogen.

A plan was reportedly submitted Monday night, but it did not meet the standards required by the Coast Guard.

“It’s a different story for the passengers who are ill and who need treatment,” said Dr. Amy Freeland from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Cruise Ship Task Force. “Those people, if they’re mildly ill, with a sore throat or a mild-grade temperature, they need to wear their masks and stay isolated, away from others.”

Commissioner Barbara Sharief said it’s a safe bet those passengers will not stick around.

“If I was one of those passengers on that ship, and I lived in Europe, in Canada, wherever I came from, I’d be running to get away from here,” she said.

“Most of the people on that ship are over 65 years old. They want to go to their homes. They want to be with their families,” said Broward Commissioner Nan Rich.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had expressed his disapproval of having the Zaandam dock at Port Everglades, weighed in on the matter during a news conference held Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve been in touch with the White House about it, with the Coast Guard about it. The way to deal with it is to send medical attention to the ships,” he said. “To be bringing people in to the State of Florida — I think most of these are foreign nationals — that’s using up some of our resources here that we need to have available for Floridians, and so I’ve asked the White House to work on getting medical supplies there, and I think the cruise ship should be responsible for helping facilitate that, but just to drop people off at the place where we’re having the highest number of cases right now just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

Bogen said it’s not up to the governor, but to Broward commissioners and the unified command, whether or not the ships are allowed to dock at Port Everglades. He said they are waiting for a more detailed plan from Holland America and Carnival before they determine what to do.

Tuesday night, President Donald Trump said he is determined to make the right decision about these ships.

“I’m going to do what’s right, not only for us but for humanity,” he said. “I mean, these are two big ships, and they have a lot of sick people. I’ll be speaking to the governor.”

The Coral Princess, another cruise ship owned by Carnival with sick people on board, remains anchored off the coast of South America. It remains unclear if anyone has COVID-19.  It was also scheduled to head to Port Everglades and was expected to arrive on Saturday.

A vote by commissioners is expected sometime on Wednesday.

“If the commission weighs in heavily one way or the other, it might sway something, but again, without the unified command [of] everyone to the plan, it won’t happen,” said Holness.

For updates from Port Everglades regarding the Zaandam, click here.

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