After more than two years of ban due to the covid-19 pandemic, Australia received its first tourist cruise in Sydney Harbour on Monday in front of the expectation of hundreds of curious people.
One day after the end of the ban, Pacific Explorer entered the so-called circular pier in the country's most populous city, escorted by two tugboats that fired their water cannons and displayed a banner with the message “We are at home” to welcome it, according to state television ABC.
About 250 crew members were travelling on board the ship, but no passengers, as tourists are expected to start their first voyage in Sydney on 31 May to the Australian city of Brisbane.
The cruise ship docked in the Australian port after traveling the more than 18,000 kilometers that separated it from Cyprus, where it remained docked these two years after the break due to the pandemic.
The Australian Government banned cruise ships from entering in March 2020 after the Ruby Princess, which docked that month in Sydney, became the first major source of community infections in Australia after the disembarkation of some 2,700 passengers.
Health authorities linked some 900 infections and 28 deaths to this vessel that came from the United States, and with which ten percent of the total infections in the country were associated in early April 2020.
In recent months, Australia has been easing restrictions to contain the pandemic after vaccinating more than 95 per cent of the target population with at least two doses.
The country, which during the first year of the pandemic prevented mass contagion, has recorded more than 5.4 million cases of covid-19, including 6,782 deaths.
(With information from EFE)
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