BORDEAUX: French authorities on Wednesday confined more than 1,700 passengers and crew aboard a British cruise ship docked in Bordeaux after an elderly passenger died and dozens reported gastrointestinal illness symptoms.
Health officials said there was no indication the incident was linked to the recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, which reportedly left three passengers dead and triggered international concern.
The ship, Ambition, operated by UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line, arrived in the western French port on Tuesday carrying 1,233 passengers — most from Britain and Ireland — along with 514 crew members.
Authorities said a 92-year-old British passenger died of a heart attack before the vessel reached Bordeaux. Officials added that no link had been established between the death and the outbreak of stomach-related illness onboard.
Initial tests ruled out norovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea, though further laboratory testing remained underway. Health authorities said food poisoning had not been excluded as a possible cause.
Passengers experiencing symptoms reportedly peaked on Monday while the ship was docked in Brest, in northwestern France.
Despite the restrictions, passengers remained on board without strict security measures around the vessel. Some were seen taking photographs from the deck while awaiting official clearance to disembark.
A passenger from Belfast, Seos Guilidhe, said conditions onboard were manageable and described additional sanitation protocols being implemented.
“We are onboard with extra sanitation guidelines in place. It is not as bad as it was during Covid. People are just going about as normal,” he wrote on Facebook.
The cruise ship departed from the Shetland Islands on May 6 and made stops in Belfast and Liverpool before arriving in Bordeaux. It had been scheduled to continue onward to Spain before returning to Liverpool on May 22.
Ambassador Cruise Line said an increase in illness cases was recorded after passengers boarded in Liverpool.
The incident has renewed attention on the vulnerability of ships to infectious disease outbreaks due to confined living conditions, a risk historically associated with maritime travel from the era of the Black Death to the Covid-19 pandemic.
