“Yes, they are still in Savona. The passengers and crew are not allowed to disembark yet as they must be quarantined and be observed for 14 days from their arrival on Saturday,” Indonesian Ambassador to Italy Esti Andayani told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The Costa Luminosa, an Italian cruise ship, departed for Savona, Italy, from the French port of Marseille on Friday after 36 of its passengers had tested positive for COVID-19. The infected passengers were tested by the French health authorities when the ship made a stop in Marseille, Reuters reports.

However, a Marseille area official told the news agency that he could not comment on how many of those infected had disembarked and how many were still on the ship.

On Thursday and Friday, 639 of the Costa Luminosa's 1,421 passengers disembarked in Marseille.

The Indonesian Embassy in France said on Friday that the 60 Indonesian crew members were in a healthy condition and had been told by authorities to stay inside their rooms.

The Costa Luminosa, operated by Italy’s Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, had left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 5 on a cruise destined for Venice, Italy.

But days later it had to disembark two passengers in Puerto Rico who were later diagnosed with the coronavirus. It also unloaded four sick passengers on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife, Reuters reports.

International cruises have proven to be fertile ground for the spread of COVID-19. Before the Costa Luminosa, other international cruise ships – with dozens of Indonesian crew members on board -- had been banned from disembarking passengers in several countries including the Diamond Princess, World Dream, Westerdam and Grand Princess cruises.

At least nine out of 78 Indonesian crew members aboard the Diamond Princess were infected, and all have now recovered.

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