A stroke of luck: Global cruise's journey ends in Genoa during pandemic

The liner docked in Genoa's port where operations to disembark its remaining passengers started, after checks carried out by health authorities. Unlike other cruise ships that suffered outbreaks and were often put in quarantine to protect port cities, the Deliziosa found no cases of the new coronavirus.

Genoa:The Costa Deliziosa cruise ship reached its final destination in Genoa, Italy on Wednesday, ending a journey around the world that started over three months earlier.

The ship had made a call in Barcelona two days earlier after 35 days of continuous sailing with no human contact with the outside world and the coronavirus pandemic.

Early in the afternoon, the liner docked in Genoa's port where operations to disembark its remaining passengers started, after checks carried out by health authorities.

Unlike other cruise ships that suffered outbreaks and were often put in quarantine to protect port cities, the Deliziosa found no cases of the new coronavirus, according to its owner, Italian cruise company Costa Crociere.

The company said, because the ship is Italian-flagged, it followed Italian precautionary measures in the pandemic, including social distancing between guests, limiting the number of people who could enter food areas at any one time, and transmitting entertainment to cabin TV sets.

Italian media reported the health situation on board did not present any issues for public health.

No new virus cases were reported among the 1,519 passengers and 898 crew on board.

French authorities had rebuffed a request by the ship for permission to disembark several hundred passengers from France and nearby countries at Marseilles.

A French woman whose in-laws are aboard the Deliziosa garnered about 100 signatures on an online petition to urge the French government to intervene to get them home.

The regional administration for Bouches-du-Rhone in southern France cited a nationwide ban on allowing foreign cruise ships to dock, as part of France's virus confinement measures.

Italy has also barred foreign cruise ships as it battles the virus outbreak.

The French administration granted exemptions to six other cruise ships in recent weeks to allow French passengers to get off, but refused the Costa Deliziosa, saying the previous stops overstretched local police and health authorities already mobilized to tackle France's severe virus crisis.

The Deliziosa was originally due to return to Venice on the 26 April.

(AP)