Hurtigruten Executive Expresses Regret Over Coronavirus Contagion

An executive with Norwegian cruise company Hurtigruten is expressing regret after passengers and crew from one of the company’s ships experienced a coronavirus outbreak in recent days.

NPR.org reports that at least 36 crew members and several passengers of the MS Roald Amundsen cruise ship have tested positive for the virus after the ship returned to service in July. Most international cruies companies have been sidelined since March due to the pandemic. 

Hurtigruten’s CEO Daniel Skjeldam acknowledged that the company has “made mistakes,” and added that “A preliminary evaluation shows that there has been a failure in several of our internal procedures.”

Meanwhile, the MS Roald Amundsen is under quarantine in the Norwegian city Tromso. One of the difficulties facing local health officials is that passengers who sailed aboard the ship and later disembarked went home without knowing that they had been potentially exposed to the virus. Local Tromso health official Kathrine Kristoffersen told reporters that the government is”working hard to contain this outbreak in order to limit the spread in the general population.”