After descending from the ship, they went to Fort Rotterdam to take photographs, to a hotel near Losari beach for lunch, and then to Sultan Hasanuddin Airport to continue their trip to their country on board the aircraft.
Makassar (ANTARA) - Australian passengers of the MS Coral Adventure cruise ship that docked at Sukarno-Hatta Port in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar were flown to their country of origin via Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in the city on Thursday.

"After descending from the ship, they went to Fort Rotterdam to take photographs, to a hotel near Losari beach for lunch, and then to Sultan Hasanuddin Airport to continue their trip to their country on board the aircraft," Makassar Acting Mayor, M Iqbal Suhaeb, said.

The cruise ship was allowed to dock at the port after it stopped two miles from the port's pier for a few hours.

The decision to allow the cruise ship to dock at the port was taken after the port health office checked 78 people on board the cruise ship in accordance with the standard operating procedure.

"They stayed here (Makassar) only for four hours," he said.

Based on the results of the medical checkups, all the 78 people comprising 44 passengers and 34 crew members were declared free from the coronavirus infection.

As a result, at 08.00 a.m local time on Thursday, the port authorities allowed the cruise ship to dock at the port.

Iqbal said he had reported the results of the medical checkups to South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah before the cruise ship was allowed to dock at the port.

The cruise ship had earlier sailed to several places in Indonesia. On February 27, it visited the East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang, where it also received the same checks.

"This means that the incubation period has terminated. The results of medical checkups suggest that they all tested negative (for coronavirus) and none of them is suspected of contracting the infection. As a matter of fact, they hold health alert cards certifying that they are healthy," he said.

Chief of the port's administrative affairs section, Nirwan, said his team had checked all the passengers and the condition of the cruise ship. Related news: Four Indonesians in Singapore still undergoing treatment for COVID-19
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Translator: M Darwin Fatir/Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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